


Blood is thicker than water

by TsukimoriMadoka



Category: inFAMOUS: Second Son
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Delsin gets rejected by a cat, F/M, Mommy Augustine, Reggie is being the worried older brother, follows/tells the story of the game with new characters and additions, like most of the time, more tags might be added in the future, which isn't really important though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2018-06-05 18:51:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6716944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TsukimoriMadoka/pseuds/TsukimoriMadoka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While on their way through Seattle, in order to find the escaped conduits and a cure for the tribe, Delsin and Reggie encounter a woman who holds a secret they would have never imagined. A journey of fears, doubts and new friendships awaits the brothers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a translation. The original - which is written by me - is originally in German. I started posting the story on FF.net but planned on posting it here as well. There'll probably be some mistakes. Even though I've been working on the translation for a while it's still been a long time since I've actually written something in English.
> 
> I hope you'll still have fun. :)

**~ooo~**

Yana never had been keen of her mother or better to say the person who gave birth to her.

She often talked about it with her dad, how her parents met, how he reacted when he learned he was going to be a dad.. everything he told her sounded outright cold. As if her mother was some kind of monster without any kind of feelings. It was a strange to imagine her like this.

Yana grew up with her dad. Alone. The only mothers she knew where those of her friends and classmates. They were all so nice, treating their children with love and much care, just like her dad did with her. Since he was a single parent there were a lot of things he had to take care of on his own. But he managed. He was kind to her, always there when Yana was in need of him and if it was necessary he could also be strict. She always imagined her mother just like that but she never knew if this was the truth – not until she was older and met her for the first time.

When she turned 16 Yana finally wanted to know what kind of person her mother was. Why she never called or visited her in all those years.

Of course, over the time she grew up, Yana learned that some relationships just weren't meant to be. People who once had been happy went different paths. There were various reasons for that. Her dad never told her about his reasons and now she would finally figure them out on her own.

The meeting was organized by her dad. Even after all those years he still had a working phone number he never thought he would have to use. Never in his life did he thought he would talk to Yana's mother again, he did it just for her because she had asked him and there was no way he could've said 'no' to his daughter. The call was short, quite impersonal but Yana's mother was willing to meet her. Maybe it was just because she was curious to see what had become of the little life she gave birth to years prior – at least that was what Yana hoped for.

But all hope was destroyed within a few minutes after they finally met.

There was no warmth or kindness. No warm welcome or anything that showed Yana the woman in front of her felt any kind of love towards her own daughter. Or that her mother had spared her a thought in all those years she wasn't there and that she would be just a bit happy to see Yana.

Cold eyes stared at the girl and equally cold words followed.

_"I expected something positive, looks like this meeting was a mistake on my part."_

And what did Yana expect? To be welcomed with open arms? To see a smile on her mothers face? Somehow Yana knew how this would end but she believed, no, she had believed there was a chance things turned out different.

Two years ago her mother had required renown during an incident in New Marais. Renown with a bad aftertaste even though it looked like she would fight for something good on the outside. Maybe Brooke Augustine had been a nice woman one day. But this day was far gone and her career always had been more important to her. Now everything that mattered to her was finding and imprisoning every Conduit on the planet.

No, expecting to be embraced was a thing you couldn't expect from the woman.

At that moment Yana wished she had listened to her dad. She would have never tried to meet her mother if he had been a bit more persistent to keep her from making this move. Especially if Yana had known what the future would hold and that her being Augustine's daughter would cause more problems than anticipated.

**~ooo~**


	2. Cappuccino Meetings

**~ooo~**

Seattle had been Yana's home since two years and she enjoyed every minute of living here, of course, leaving out the recent events involving the D.U.P..

She was 21 and had a small apartment that was far away from downtown and all the turmoil caused by the sheer amount of people walking the streets – she never had been fond of being around many people at the same time. She preferred having her peace which was hard to achieve if you lived in a big and bustling city. But well, it worked. While she wasn't spending her time at home watching some crappy TV show or reading a book, she would be with her best friend or working.

Yana had a job at a small store selling baby wear and all kind of accessories a mother would need. Sometimes she felt out of place. She was still quite young and had zero experience with kids, unlike her co-workers who were all married. Most of them had kids themselves as well. All that plus the fact Yana never had a real family herself weren't really the best conditions for the job but she managed. While she felt insecure in the beginning, she started to get accustomed to the job and by now no one questioned whether she was capable of it or not.

Right now Yana enjoyed her break at a nearby Latte Owl. Cappuccino in one hand and a book in the other, she sat near a window and stared outside. Normally she would have taken the beverage to go but since the D.U.P. came to the city her need for walking the streets in her breaks had decreased. And that only because three Conduits managed to escape and Augustine was keen on finding and imprisoning them again.

Augustine.

Since the meeting five years ago Yana hadn't seen her mother again and she didn't even want to. And now? They probably would run into each other again sooner or later because out of all cities there were, the runaway Conduits were supposed to be right here in Seattle. In the first few days, when the D.U.P. started to lock down the city, Yana had wished this was all just a bad joke but she had to acknowledge it wasn't once the first scan stations were opened and no one was allowed to leave the city anymore. And it wasn't just that people weren't allowed to leave. They weren't even allowed to get inside the city. The best example for that was her best friend. She was attending her oldest brother's wedding in San Francisco. Due to the recent events her stay there became longer than anticipated. No one had the slightest idea when things would become normal again exactly.

Yana had the feeling this would take a fairly long time.

There was enough evidence that at least Abigail Walker or Fetch how the news called her was in Seattle.

Yana didn't mind. Well, meaning that she didn't have a problem with Conduits in general, just the way the D.U.P. handled them and made them look like they were utterly evil. Not to mention that a lot of people believed what they were told. With a sigh Yana turned her attention back to the book. She should have known how things would turn out sooner or later. That her mother would be closer to her than she wished for. After all, Curdun Cay wasn't too far from Seattle.

The prison was located somewhere up north, a few hours by car, behind trees and mountains. It was made for Conduits and that meant that it was built in a way that made it impossible for them to escape.

Yeah right. That's why there were Conduits on the loose. Well, they weren't in Curdun Cay when they escaped but on their way somewhere else. Whatever reasons there were to transport them to a different location in the first place. Especially if it wasn't as secure as the prison made exactly for people like them. Prison. That sounded so wrong. None of the Conduits did anything wrong. They were just... well, not entirely human. Yana had seen how people, who were claimed to be Conduits, were taken away. The sheer amount of fear clearly visible in their eyes. None of them believed what was happening to them and no one had the courage to help them.

Conduits weren't welcomed. Of course there were people who didn't have many problems with other people who were able to shoot fire from their toes but well, those were few and the worst thing – with all the 'we-hunt-down-Conduits' thing – was that everyone who sympathized with them was just as welcomed.

The D.U.P. and its propaganda did a really great job at that.

Another sigh escaped Yana's lips as a D.U.P. truck drove down the street with a fast pace. Something seemed to have happened.

"Hey Joe", she turned towards the barista. "Can you make me a small cappuccino to go? I should be heading back to work soon."

The short black haired man looked at her with a shake of his head. "You know, all that cappuccino you down in a week... I can't even drink that much in one month. Don't you think this is a little unhealthy? You should drink less of that stuff."

"Never", she laughed.

Joe was the owner of the store and he was here nearly every day or at least it felt like that. For the customers he was more than just the owner however. He was a friend. Someone who would listen to your problems like a therapist with the difference that you just had to pay for your drinks and cake. He seemed to always have a good advice, no matter how hopeless the situation seemed to be. Yana found it amazing that he wasn't going crazy over the time.

There was so much stuff Joe had to listen to. Talks about the weather, the recent shopping sprees of various wives and relationship problems in general.

In fact Yana had 'used' Joe in the same way. He was one of the very few people whom Yana had told about her mother and what had happened in the past. And so he also was one of the few people who knew that, if Yana hadn't taken her father's surname, she would indeed be named Yana Augustine. And that was a creepy idea.

Another armored truck drove down the road as Yana put the book in her bag. Something bad must have happened but neither Yana nor anyone else could hear a sound. The sirens simply vanished in the distance. Whatever it was, it was far away.

"Augustine on the rise", Joe couldn't help but to snort. "I really hope she'll leave the city soon. All those checkpoints and patrols… I don't even want to start on the cameras", he shook off the unwell feeling building up inside. The thought of being exposed to the constant surveillance of a lunatic was frightening.

Yana walked over to the bar. "Yeah, I understand your point but we can't do anything besides hoping she'll be gone soon."

"As long as those freaks run free? I don't think so."

"Conduits Joe, Conduits", she reminded him.

"I know: you don't mind them because they don't do anything wrong", before Yana had the chance to say something Joe continued. "You might be right you know, but because they're here I have to go through three controls on my way home", just because he lived on the opposite side of the city. Yana was lucky she didn't have to stand in a line in order to wait until she could put her hand on a scanner. "Everyone in this city is annoyed because of that. I'm just asking myself how long this will continue..."

"Hopefully not for long anymore – at least if you ask me, not that I have anything to say on that matter."

"Well, under… different circumstances I would say you should talk to your mother but that's not an option."

"You're right. It isn't", Yana said while grabbing the cup Joe handed her. "And there are various reasons for that. Number one would definitely be that she won't listen to me", that would've been too easy. Besides, Yana really had no need to talk to her mother at all. If she was lucky she didn't even know Yana was living in Seattle. The sooner Augustine was gone the better. Joe was right: most of the people were annoyed with her and the D.U.P. in general. A lot of stores were closed. There was no need for bars when no one was in the mood to party. Of course there still were some bars that opened but there were only a few customers in the evening hours.

The whole city seemed to be dead in a certain way.

Things needed to change fast.

**~ooo~**

It was an understatement to say that Reggie was stressed out. It was more than that but there were actually no words to describe all the feelings that went on inside of him and all that just because of his little brother.

The moment Delsin woke up and saw what Augustine had done to the tribe, the younger Rowe had decided to follow her in order to get her powers. Reggie understood that he wanted to save his friends... his family so to say, but Reggie was afraid of all the things that could happen. What if Delsin didn't pay attention for a second? The D.U.P. could get him anytime and that meant he would be taken to Augustine and then to Curdun Cay.

All it needed was one rash action and that was exactly what Delsin had done:

the brothers had been in Seattle for about half an hour and Delsin had marched right into a mobile command center of the D.U.P. which, of course, was a bad idea. Needless to say he had made a lot of new friends who now were after him. It had been Reggie's idea to some extent. He had to acknowledge that but it didn't mean Delsin was allowed to go off and cause confusion – which he could do best.

After Reggie had given him some coordinates of various core relays Delsin had vanished and since Reggie was nowhere as fast as his brother, he could just wait for him to return. But there was another downside: Reggie tried to call Delsin since what seemed like hours. Either way Delsin had fallen into a hole, drained the relays and fell asleep or he was fighting against more D.U.P.'s who probably had already sent around pictures of him, so everybody knew who they had to look for.

A small growl escaped his lips as Reggie stuffed his phone away and continued his way to... wherever. Being unwary of his surroundings – who could blame him for thinking about his little brother right now – he suddenly collided with something or rather someone else when he turned around a corner.

"Shit!" The moment Yana and the man ran into each other she dropped everything on the floor. An almost sad look went to her cup laying on the ground with the Latte Owl emblem on it. Her blue eyes followed the spilled cappuccino flowing down the walkway before she looked up to meet eyes with the person she ran into in order to make sure he or she was okay – it could have been some old woman after all.

But instead of a nice old lady who was in a deep shock, Yana laid her eyes on a man who looked at her just as worried as she looked at him herself.

"Are you okay?"

His voice was deep and had something very soothing about it. It took her a moment before she answered him. "Yeah... I'm fine. Sorry, I... I didn't look where I was going."

"Same goes for me", Reggie had to smile. She looked distressed somehow – in fact most of the people around did and maybe it was just his imagination but she looked even worse. His eyes turned to the ground before he knelt down and started to pick up Yana's things. She still was a little perplexed because of this whole situation. He was so... calm. Everyone else would've shouted at her, asking if she couldn't watch out and he even took some blame upon himself. Plus the fact that his jacket was now adorned by a dark stain of her drink. As he stood up she finally noticed the inscription on it which made her flinch:

she had just run into a cop.

"You sure you're okay?" He asked again as she handed the bag to her.

She nodded. "Yes, I'm just... you're a cop... I mean... you're an officer. Sorry."

"Don't worry. I'm not going to arrest you because you spilled your coffee on my jacket", he tried to reassure her.

"It's cappuccino, not coffee."

Well that was a reaction he didn't expect at all but it shouldn't bother him. There were other problems he had and if he was honest with himself he found it quite amusing. He declined her offer to pay for the cleaning. Not only because his jacket was the last thing he worried about but also because it wasn't entirely her fault – which she still didn't accept. Just as stubborn as Delsin in a certain way. She said a few more apologies before she continued her previous way, mumbling something about her work and hurrying to get there.

Yana was already on her way when Reggie began to take a step forward only to notice something lying on the ground in front of him. It was a set of keys and a staff card with a picture of the woman who stood in front of him minutes ago but now was already nowhere to be seen. She probably hadn't noticed the keys were missing but he was sure she would. The search for his brother had to wait for now, Reggie had to give the keys back to its rightful owner first.

**~ooo~**


	3. Out of the smoke

**~ooo~**

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

Yana kept drumming her fingers on a small table in a backroom of the shop she worked at. The moment she came back, she noticed the missing keys. In a blind panic – she had hoped she just wasn't finding them because she was in a hurry, that maybe they were stuck somewhere between other things in her bag – she had turned it around and scattered all contents on the table. Everything was there, just not the keys which meant she had lost them for sure.

It wasn't enough that it were the keys to her apartment but also to her workplace – which were a lot to be honest. Not to mention the staff card. No matter who had her keys: they now had no problems to rob the store and maybe even find out where she lived. Yana began to wonder how to explain that to her boss. This was the biggest catastrophe she could imagine. Slowly, still thinking about a way to explain what happened and also already signing her resignation in mind, she put her belongings back into the bag.

"Hey Yana, there's someone who wants to talk to you."

"Who?"

"I don't know. Some guy, never saw him around before. Say... you sure don't have a boyfriend you keep hiding from us?", there was a playful nudge with the elbow.

"No, no boyfriend and if I had one you would be the last to know. Everything anyone tells you doesn't stay a secret for long. It doesn't even take one hour until the whole neighborhood knows about it", was Yana's answer to a comment she had often heard. Her colleagues, especially Sarah, tried to find a suitable partner for Yana. As annoying as it was, she also had to laugh a little and it was a good thing because she forgot her previous sorrows for that moment. Putting the bag to the side she walked back into the salesroom, her colleague right behind her.

There, with his back towards her, stood the man Sarah mentioned. Yana recognized the jacket he was wearing immediately: it was the same man she ran into just a few minutes before she arrived here. When he turned around he gave her a bright smile.

"What? Am I in trouble after all? I offered you to pay the bill for the cleaning."

"It's not about that", he shook his head and pulled a pair of keys out of his pocket, holding them up for Yana to see. "I guess those might be important and I also have this."

Beside the keys the stranger held up a cup with his other hand. "Cappuccino. I thought... because I ruined the other one."

Yana's eyes widened. This man had become her personal saint just by giving her two things she really needed now. Mainly the keys, the cappuccino was a positive side effect. "I'm sorry I... I'm just so unbelievably glad you found the keys and came here instead of robbing the shop when you had the chance. I know you're an officer but anyone could have found the keys so... I'm glad you did and I could kiss you right now but... that might not be a good idea."

"Well _I_ like that idea", Yana's colleague who stood right behind her mentioned. She had watched the scene with interest. "You know, if you do so, there would be something I can talk about once the others get here."

"Not a chance", Yana turned her attention back to the man. He seemed to be unsure of what to think about this situation. Well, men and unwanted attention from women. Yana couldn't blame him for feeling like he was at a place where he didn't belong and where everybody turned to look at him. It probably was the same feeling she had back when she started working here. "Sorry about her, she's a tattletale. Thanks for bringing me the keys back to me, I seriously have no idea what I would've done if they were gone for sure."

Besides signing her resignation.

"That's what they call being lucky under the given circumstances, I guess", he handed her both, keys and cappuccino, before he continued to speak. "The name's Reggie Rowe by the way."

A gentle smile on her lips, Yana had already taken a sip of the drink, she looked up at him and held out a hand. "Yana Pierce, nice to meet you."

"You know, if this was a Hollywood movie this would be the famous aha moment and you'd be married next week."

"Sarah!"

**~ooo~**

"I'm so sorry."

Yana had made sure Sarah's life would be a living hell after the woman insisted that Yana and her new friend should get to know each other. In private of course. So, since there wasn't much stuff to do anyways she had sent both, Yana and Reggie, away to enjoy the rest of the day. Spending time in nice company was far more entertaining in her eyes and Yana didn't even try to deny that. Of course this was nicer than waiting for someone to come by the store. She often wondered why her boss still decided to open it. Just like the bars that were closed most of the days, other shops – regardless what they offered – were closed as well because few people felt like shopping.

Maybe her boss thought the people were in need of baby wear because they had nothing better to do than having sex. Yana would eat her hat if there was a sudden increase in the local birth rates nine months from now.

"She reminds me of Betty. I mean your colleague", Reggie said in a quiet voice. To him this whole situation felt a little surreal. Starting with the whole deal of his brother becoming a Conduit in the first place. Who would have ever thought about that? Delsin didn't and Reggie didn't as well. The older man wondered if there were people who wanted to be Conduits. Especially after all the things the D.U.P. spread about them. Delsin had just been as scared as Reggie when the realization sunk into him: he was a Conduit.

An individual most people feared.

"Who's Betty?"

"Mhm... I guess she's something like a grandmother to me", he turned his head to look up towards the sky as he and Yana walked down the street. "Well, she's a grandmother for all of us", Yana already knew that when he said 'us' he meant a whole tribe because he had mentioned that a bit earlier. "She's always worried about everyone, keeps us busy and also keeps an eye on us so we don't do anything she considers as something bad", he had to laugh because that actually meant she kept an eye on Delsin since he was the only one to get into trouble on a regular basis. "She thinks I reached the age to settle down or at least marry and have kids."

"Maybe she's right", why did Yana have to side with Betty now? The two women didn't even knew each other. Besides it sounded like Yana was saying he was old. "If she's kind of your grandmother she might want grandchildren."

"There are enough children she can take care of."

"But they're not yours right? I might be wrong but maybe you're one of the more important persons for Betty. Given the name on your jacket I guess she's in Salmon Bay? That's not close by. Not really anyway. So what brings you here, especially at a time like this?", she asked curious. He must have arrived shortly before the city was locked down and she wondered how he managed. Being away from your family and friends wasn't easy, she could tell that.

"My brother does."

"You have a brother?"

"A younger one yes. I promised Betty to keep an eye on him so he doesn't get into trouble."

"So where is he now?"

"Probably in trouble."

It took Yana a moment but she couldn't help herself and started laughing, Reggie joining her shortly after. She was an only child but her best friend had brothers so she knew how clingy older siblings could get. Reggie seemed to be no exception and she couldn't blame him for any sorrows he might experience right now. Causing trouble in a city full of cameras and D.U.P. was one of the worst things you could do. Their laughter was cut short when Reggie's phone started ringing. Looking for said phone he was surprised when he took a look at the display before answering.

"Delsin. I've been talking about you right now", he gave Yana a grin before he turned his attention back to his brother. "I've tried to call you a few times. Where are you?"

"Sorry, I ran into some problems with the D.U.P. but they're gone now. Got all the relays as well – I'm not too far from you. At least if I can trust the GPS so don't worry about me. I'm still in one piece."

"How soothing."

"Oh come on."

"Well, unlike you I take things serious. You know why we're here – why you're here. I came to protect you but how does that work if you vanish somewhere and I can't even get in touch with you? This... situation is a little complicated don't you think?"

Yana, who still was standing right next to Reggie, wasn't particularly interested in what he was talking about. Plus it was something private. What she understood was that the person on the other end was his little brother and that he seemed to be fine. Whatever he did that made Reggie so worried. Yana wasn't keen on mingling with other peoples business. And also not with worried brothers. The moment Reggie finished the call she noticed how nervous he seemed to be.

"You okay?"

"Yeah.. I'm fine just.. my brother is on his way to our location."

Yana raised an eyebrow. "Is this bad? He's fine too right?"

"Yes.. yes..", he gave her a nod, looking around. Reggie hoped his brother wouldn't arrive in a cloud of smoke. Before the younger one hung up Reggie had tried to tell him that he wasn't alone but he wasn't sure if Delsin had heard him. Or wanted to for that matter.

"I'm just asking because you don't look pleased that your brother is on his way here. Is he that bad?"

"No, no, it's just.. he's.."

A bio terrorist.

No, he couldn't say that. Besides, Delsin would correct him about the term. After all the term bio terrorist was just made up to scare people, Delsin didn't want to scare anyone and preferred to be called Conduit. Reggie liked neither of the names. Delsin was his little brother and that wouldn't change no matter what. Still, if there was a cure Reggie hoped they would find it so everything could go back to normal. Before the accident. Before Augustine.

It was already enough that they had their little 'war' with Augustine. Yana had nothing to do with it but if Delsin appeared now things could become messy. Why did he follow her in the first place? So he could get to know her? This had been a stupid idea and there was no way to just send her away and wait for Delsin. He began to wonder why he cared, why he worried about her even though he barely knew her. Because of his job? He did protect innocent people but there were limits to that. Seattle was full of D.U.P.'s, he couldn't protect the people here but he felt as if he had to and right now he wanted to protect Yana from meeting his brother.

There was something about her, something familiar he couldn't place and who would've thought it was her mother who was the reason for the two brothers to be here? She was a nice woman. One who still had a smile on her face unlike most of the other people in Seattle. He had lost so many friends in the past two weeks and thanks to Yana and her carefree attitude, he could forget all his sorrows for a short moment and that was something he enjoyed.

Still deep in thought he was surprised when Yana touched his arm, a look of worry on her face.

"You look like you've seen a ghost. Are you sure you're okay?"

He didn't even have a chance to answer her.

A cloud of smoke appeared a few feet away from them only to reveal Delsin who fell into a slow jog as he materialized again while scratching his head. It was the same moment he had to realize that his brother had company, cute looking company as well who now looked at him with wide opened eyes as if he was a.. well, Conduit.

"Ehm..", he gave both of them a little wink. "Hey."

Reggie instantly went over to his brother, grabbed his vest and pulled him to the side. "Hey? Hey! That's all you have to say? Besides the fact I was worried about you when you stormed that D.U.P. center and then started looking for those relays, I told you I wasn't alone! Why can't you listen to me when I tell you something like that?"

"Keep calm Reg", Delsin took his brothers hands and pushed them away. "You were the one to help me with the relays; I would've never found them if you didn't give me the coordinates so what? And how should I know that ' _I'm not alone_ ' means that you have a date?"

"This is not a date. We were just walking around and..", and.. well Reggie had no idea what they were doing or intended to anyway. There was no answer he could give his brother to explain what he did or why.

The younger brother, obviously aware of the uneasiness in his brothers antics, turned towards the woman he was with. She still stood there like she had been turned to stone, now understanding why Reggie had been acting so strange when he told her his brother was on his way:

"You're a Conduit."

Both men noticed that it was no question. She knew what a Conduit was and they were surprised she did use the – in Delsin's eyes – right word to address him. She also seemed quite calm. It felt strange since the last people who saw him using his powers ran away while screaming for help because he was a monster. Conduit... Augustine had said it herself: it was a word used by Conduits themselves or by people who sided with them. Now it was time to find out to which group she belonged.

He reached out his hand. "The name's Delsin Rowe. It's nice to meet my brothers date."

A bright smile flashed on her lips as she took his hand. "Yana Pierce and I'm not his date."

Also not a Conduit.


	4. What happened so far

**~ooo~**

It probably wasn't the best idea to take both men to the place she lived. If Natalie ever found out about this she would be angry with Yana. No doubt about that. Bringing strangers to your home had always been a bad idea. At least in movies.

But there were a few things the brothers wanted to talk about, like explanations to what was going on. Since there were too many people around, Yana decided it would be for the best if they went somewhere the three of them could talk without being observed. She had questions as well. Like if Delsin was one of the Conduits who escaped the transport. The news stated there were three of them. One had already been caught again; the second was Fetch so Delsin could as well be the third one.

No one paid attention to the trio as they made their way to Yana's apartment and that was a good thing if she was honest. She had no idea if the people around here knew about Delsin already. From the bit she heard earlier he had already met the D.U.P. and caused some trouble. The trucks Yana had seen a few hours ago when she was enjoying her cappuccino? Now she knew what that fuss was all about.

Yana lived on the third floor of a big apartment building in a quiet part of the city given the recent events. She had lived there for two years by now, but there still were a few neighbors she didn't know well or more like not at all. Through one of her neighbors, an elderly woman right next door, Yana knew that there was no way to know everyone around. Not only because you didn't see each other on a regular basis but also because people moved in and out. Some fast, some not. She had seen a lot of moving companies outside the building herself since she lived here.

"Come in", Yana turned around the key and took a few steps inside her apartment.

The corridor the brothers found themselves in was small. Almost too small for three people. While Yana put away her keys and jacket, the men took a moment to look around.

There were two built in cupboards, one behind the front door and the other one on the opposite wall. The one behind the door was the same Yana put her jacket in so Reggie supposed the other was for cleaning utensils. The small wall right next to the door was adorned by a corkboard with lots of notes and flyers from various delivery services. Reggie noticed a key box hanging on the wall as well.

There were two doors straight from the front one. One that was slightly ajar on the left side - it seemed to lead to the bathroom - and an open door on the right. The men followed Yana through the open one into the living room. They had already noticed the female touch the moment they entered. There was a pleasant smell in the air. Something that reminded them of coming home. Warm brown colors graced the walls and the whole place was tidy – one thing that definitely didn't match with Delsin's room most of the time.

Yana sure didn't need to worry about bringing people to her home spontaneously.

"Take a seat", she pointed to a white couch in the middle of the room. "I'll be right back. I'm going to change into something more comfortable if you don't mind."

"Not at all", ignoring Reggie's look, Delsin plopped down on the shorter side of the couch – which was formed like an 'L' - making himself comfortable. His head turned after Yana as she approached a sliding door behind him, opening it a little and then closing it behind her again. "Damn."

Again, the look Reggie gave his brother was ignored. There were more important things than flirting with someone both barely knew. Not that this was something that kept Delsin from doing so. At least Yana didn't seem to care about it or she didn't notice it in the first place. Reggie decided to look around a bit more. Right next to the way they came from was a small open kitchen with a bar and two stools. He immediately noticed two bowls standing on the floor. "You have pets?"

"A tomcat yes, his name is Brownie", came a muffled answer from Yana's bedroom. Cappuccino could have been an option as well.

"You named your cat after food?", Delsin asked confused. What kind of people called their pet's food names?

"Yes, I named _him_ after food."

Suppressing a smile at her answer, Reggie's eyes roamed around the big room further. There was a small coffee table, a cabinet holding the TV, as well as a small showcase. Also a few shelves with books and lots of knick-knacks which probably all held a sentimental value. A cat tree stood next to the door leading on the balcony. "You have a nice apartment", his eyes fell on a photo-collage. Reggie noticed Yana was in most of the pictures. Either together with friends or her parents – well, at least with her father from what he could tell. There was no sign of her mother.

"Thanks. It was a lucky find", the sliding door opened again. Yana was still dressed in a pair of light gray jeans she wore earlier but now with a green t-shirt instead of a blouse. She was tying up her shoulder long red hair as she made her way over to the small kitchen. "Do you want something to drink? I got water, ice tea. It's too early for beer... uhm...", she opened the fridge studying what was inside. "Orange juice! And of course cappuccino."

"Please, no more cappuccino for today. Water is fine with me", Reggie now took a seat on the couch just like his brother did before.

"Beer doesn't sound too bad."

"Okay, water for you as well", while she prepared the drinks a brown fluffy fur ball made its way right up to the couch where the two men sat. Brownie looked at them, head turned to the side a little as he tried to figure out who they were. And more importantly why they sat on his couch. When Yana finished pouring in the drinks for Reggie and Delsin, she started to make a cappuccino for herself before she walked over to the couch. "Here you go", she handed them their water.

"Thanks. I do have to wonder though: do you drink anything else besides cappuccino?"

"Sure", Yana nodded. "If I have to. Everyone has their little addictions."

"May I ask how you two met? We haven't talked about that so far."

Both, Yana and Reggie, turned to face Delsin. It was Reggie who spoke in the end. "I ran into her while trying to call you. Which didn't work at all by the way."

"Hey, I already told you I had some problems with the D.U.P. and all", he shrugged. "There was no time for me to answer your calls and those relays? Man Reg, you should have been there! I've got some new tricks that will become handy in the future."

"There's no need to see what you've got. Besides I heard a few things before the connection broke of and you ran away without saying a goddamn word."

"It's not like anything happened to me and besides: it was running away in order to save my ass. There's a difference."

Yana couldn't help but to smirk at the brothers. It held something funny even though she knew it probably wasn't. She had only known Reggie since a few hours but even after that short amount of time and the things they talked about, it was obvious to her that his little brother was dear to him. All in all Reggie seemed like a person who worried about a lot of things. Not only about his family but also about strangers like her. He brought her back her keys, something not everyone would have done. Yana didn't believe that it was only because of his job. Reggie seemed like a kindhearted man and god, Yana wished there were more people like him around. Especially these days.

"Well, I guess since both of you seem to be okay everything's fine right?", Yana said as she sat down between the men, the warm cup still in her hands. She took a careful sip. "I mean... you don't have to play the dotting brother anymore now do you?"

Before either Reggie or Delsin could answer her, the later found himself staring at Brownie who had jumped onto the couch. Brownie tiptoed over to where Delsin sat, eyes fixed on the mans. With a jump on Delsin's stomach everyone turned their attention towards him. "What does he want?"

"I don't know. Maybe he expects you to pet him. Brownie's always curious when strangers come here."

Raising an eyebrow Delsin turned his attention back to the tomcat. Before he even came anywhere near to pet or to shoo him away, Brownie came closer and tapped one of his paws against Delsin's nose. At first careful but when he noticed the man didn't react at all, the tapping became a bit stronger. "Meow!"

"Stop that!", Delsin turned his head away so Brownie couldn't reach his nose anymore. "I don't know what you want but stop tapping my nose!"

"Meow!"

By now Yana had a wide grin spread across her face. Now she understood what kind of problem Brownie was having. It wasn't because he wanted to be petted. "Hey Brownie, it's okay. Come here", she patted her legs. It took Brownie a moment before he finally 'let go' of Delsin and walked over to Yana. "I'm sorry. That's usually my place; I guess he wanted you to go somewhere else. When he was younger and did something bad I tapped his nose. Like when he slept in my bed", she gave Brownie a look. "It didn't work though right?"

"Meow", not always at least. Brownie had his own head, much to Yana's dismay and right now he decided to pay the second man a visit instead of staying by her side. He didn't encounter strangers often, so this was like a onetime chance to make new acquaintances. Just like his brother before Reggie raised an eyebrow when Brownie jumped on his lap. But instead of annoying him Brownie started to make himself comfortable and began to purr once the man began to pet him hesitantly.

"Looks like he likes you", Yana smiled.

"So what? He likes my brother but because I'm sitting in your place I'm the bad guy here?", Delsin didn't understand what was happening right now.

"Maybe it's because you're different."

"Talking about different", Delsin turned his attention towards Yana. "You called me a Conduit and you had no problem with taking both of us with you. Most of the people I have met in the past hours weren't happy to see me because of what I am. They called me 'freak' and 'bio terrorist'. I suppose none of them would've taken me home even if I asked them nicely."

"Well, I don't have a problem with people like you. I mean... up until now", she answered with a shrug. "I know the D.U.P. likes to say stuff like 'bio terrorist kill your pets' as well as other things and I suppose there _are_ some that would do so. It's just that I never had contact with a Conduit who did harm me or people I know."

"That means you did have contact before?", both Rowe's became curious now. Especially Delsin since he saw a chance for getting a few new powers.

"I'm originally from New Orleans, there were Conduits too. Our neighbor's son was a real nice boy. He was shy but he would always smile at you and... well, he was ten when they took him away. He never did anything bad but some people were afraid he might blow up the whole street one day. Or something like that. They called the D.U.P.", she closed her eyes for a moment remembering the day it happened. "I still remember his frightened look when he got into the car and it drove away. His parents were devastated. There was nothing they could do."

"They took him to Curdun Cay?"

"They take everyone to Curdun Cay. No one knows what it looks like or what the D.U.P. does to the Conduits", the people weren't interested in things like that. They were happy they were safe and as long as no one did hurt them, they didn't mind if the Conduits got hurt instead.

"Well, I suppose the D.U.P. isn't really nice to the Conduits staying there", Delsin knew only little about what happened in Curdun Cay thanks to Hank. He guessed there were differences in how you were treated depending on how willing you were to work with the D.U.P. in the first place. He wondered what they did with children who were young and still needed someone to show them what was right and wrong. Children were much more open to influence. The thought about what someone could do to them was more than just a little frightening. He could only pray most of the Conduits who 'lived' in there didn't have to spent their childhood behind concrete walls. That they had been older when the D.U.P. took them away. Which still was a bad thing. He couldn't deny that but it didn't sound as bad as raising up in custody and missing a big and important part in your life.

Yana became curious. "You know something about Curdun Cay."

"Not much. I saw a few things when I got Hank's powers."

"Who's Hank?"

"One of the Conduits who ran away after the crash", Reggie had finally given in completely and petted Brownie's stomach as if he had all the time in the world. Yana didn't say anything. Brownie was particular when it came to petting him. It took Yana years until she was able to touch his stomach and Reggie just came in and was allowed to do so as it wasn't a big deal at all. There must have been something very special about the man if Brownie was so comfortable with him. It made Yana a little jealous to be honest. "The truck crashed near the preserve."

"Preserve? In Salmon Bay?", it was the first time she heard about that or maybe she had just forgotten about it. Yana was sure it was never mentioned in the news about the accident and Reggie only mentioned the tribe for a short moment.

"So you know about Salmon Bay."

"The inscription on your brother's jacket. We only talked about it for a few minutes, he told me about Betty. That's more or less everything."

Delsin gave her a small nod before he began to explain. "We're part of the Akomish. Betty is, more or less, the tribes patriarch. She doesn't like it when we call her that though because it's the wrong word for what she means to us. She's more like... a mother or a grandmother. She keeps an eye on us and... she's the reason I'm here", he seemed sad when he talked about her like that. Like something had happened to her. "If you'll ask my brother he will tell you I'm a 'worthless fellow'."

"Which is right."

What followed was another little banter between the brothers Yana didn't understand. It seemed that Reggie took responsibility for taking care of his brother after their parents died. So while Reggie's path brought him right into the job of an officer, Delsin decided to spend his time with spraying pictures he called art. That of course meant that both, Reggie and Delsin, would argue a lot because it was Reggie's duty to care for the safety of the people. Also to make sure everyone maintained the rules. Maybe he needed to loosen up a bit but Yana could see Reggie was just worried about Delsin's well being.

"I'm sorry to disturb you but may I ask why you're here exactly?"

"Because of Augustine."

Yana took a deep breath when she heard the name of her mother. "You know her?"

"Unfortunately yes. Two of the Conduits ran away right after the crash. Hank decided to set the fish cannery on fire after Reggie pointed a gun at him and ran away after that too", before Reggie could explain himself Delsin continued to talk. "Well, he had been stuck under a part of the trucks door and while Reggie tried to catch the other two, I helped him. When Reggie came back Hank panicked and fired a smoke shot at him. Things got out of hand... I thought I could outplay him but the second I touched his arm I absorbed his powers."

"Why did he set fire anyway?"

"To buy himself time. He lost some because he was stuck. I was knocked out when his powers 'transferred' to me, Reggie's leg was stuck under a car and I had to help him first... Hank wanted to distract the D.U.P. so he could get away in time before they arrived. But since I had his powers I fought with him. I wanted him to fix whatever he did to me; to make me normal again. So by the time he left the cannery the D.U.P. had already arrived. And that's where Augustine appeared", he stopped for a second. Delsin was sure he would never forget the first meeting with her. The hate in her eyes. "At that time I didn't know it was a bad idea. But the way she talked and acted towards Conduits... I asked her if she wasn't one as well and then things didn't go as planned, not like they did before. She threatened to harm Betty so I told her I was a Conduit. She didn't believe me at all, rammed some concrete shards in my legs. She did the same to Betty and a lot of the other tribe members to make them speak."

Yana took a deep breath. She knew her mother wasn't a nice person. That had been clear as glass years ago but hurting innocent people that were just at the wrong place at the wrong time? Because they didn't tell her what she wanted to hear? She remembered how fondly Reggie talked about Betty. To think Augustine hurt her made Yana feel sad and also angry. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be, it's not your fault and I'm here to get Augustine's powers in order to help my friends. I'm a power sponge after all", Delsin looked at his hands, a smile tugging at his lips as he did so. This whole power thing was getting quite handy. "Technically I just have to shake her hand."

Now Yana had an idea why he seemed so eager when he shook hers when they met not long ago. "I suppose you're after Fetch then as well."

"Fetch?"

"Yes, she's... she would be one of the two Conduits who managed to escape. I thought you were one of them but I guess there's still someone else."

"How come you now the name of the Conduits?"

"Well only hers to be exact. You could say she's popular around here or as popular as you can be when the D.U.P. is in charge of the news to some extent. It's said that she killed some random people. There are no pictures though but it's enough for people to believe it's the truth", Yana shrugged and took another sip of her cappuccino. "I mean they believe anything – even the stuff with Conduits killing your pets. I just don't get it."

"Do you think they're just making stuff up?"

"Really now Delsin, you think the D.U.P. is telling lies? Why would they?", Delsin rolled his eyes with a sigh. And how come his brother always believed in the good side of people? He had seen how the city looked. How the people looked. What Augustine did. The D.U.P. had to make sure it looked like everything they did was justified. The whole lock-down. That was one thing Delsin didn't understand. Why would you prevent the normal people from leaving? The Conduits yes, but some destroyed bridges was nothing a Conduit could stop.

He remembered the scan stations. Everyone had to use them and a few people were held in those suspicion pens because they had the gene. Just the gene, no powers and they were still treated like they were pure evil. This wasn't only about the Conduits, this was about control.

"You seriously want an answer to that?"

Before they could start arguing again – Yana had the feeling this happened quite often – she interrupted them. "Okay you two, it won't help anyone if you continue to argue. Just remember that right now, even though there are a lot of people who don't like Conduits, the D.U.P. is the worst problem to have. If you destroy the cameras, the scan stations and everything the D.U.P. uses to keep the city under control, the people around might help you or at least not freak out as much when they see you."

"Mhm, maybe yes. I few people were happy when I destroyed that little command center they had set up in Queen Anne", it was worth a try. Even if the people did hate him it would be okay because Delsin was sure Augustine would notice him and that was all he needed. "I might get Augustine to show up while rampaging around and destroying her precious D.U.P. equipment."

"You should be a bit more worried about this. The cameras record everything you do. She'll find you sooner than anticipated and by sooner I mean before you get more powers", Reggie stood up and began to think about what they could do while he moved through the room. Brownie had already walked over to his cat tree a few moments ago so getting up didn't turn out to be a problem. Now the plan was not only to find Fetch but also to hinder Augustine from controlling the city and thus knowing where exactly Delsin was running around. "There has to be some kind of headquarters. Something we, well, you can disrupt."

"Great. What are we waiting for? Let's go and look for it", Delsin stood up as well and gave his brother a pat on the back before he turned to look at Yana. "It was nice meeting you. Once I have a little bit of time to spare I'm gonna visit you, I promise", that said Delsin vanished in a cloud of smoke, using an open window instead of the front door.

Yana turned to Reggie. "Could you tell your brother that I'd appreciate it if he would use the door like everyone else instead of flying through windows next time? I might not have a problem with Conduits but I don't need people to talk about stuff like this. The last thing I need is the D.U.P. on my heels", or Augustine for that matter.

"Sure, I'll tell him. I guess I should follow him so...", he pulled a piece of paper out of his pockets and started to scribble something on it. "My number. If anything happens don't hesitate to give me call."

"You two sure are strange you know that?", seeing the questioning look, Yana continued to talk. "It's like you don't care about anything besides helping people. You should worry about Delsin or your own well being more than mine."

"Let's say it's a bad habit coming with my job."

Yana took the paper, giving it a short glance. Reggie was already on his way towards the front door when she spoke. "Thanks... and good luck."

"Ah, there's one thing I wanted to ask a bit earlier", he turned to face her once more. "You said you're from New Orleans. Seven years ago, in New Marais..."

A sad smile appeared on her lips when she remembered the old times. "It was close. The Beast if that's what you mean. You could see him from miles away. I guess we had luck nothing bad happened even though I have to be honest and say that a few people I knew died back then", she paused a second before she continued. "You know Conduits aren't so bad. We probably only live because one of them sacrificed his life. Your brother... he's doing something similar."

"I know. That's what I'm afraid of."

**~ooo~**


	5. Hello Space Needle!

**~ooo~**

It was hard to find sleep that night.

Yana's thoughts were occupied by the brothers and her mother. She wondered what they planned to do once they would find her. It seemed like Delsin wanted to free the Conduits that were held in Curdun Cay, but therefor he had to defeat Augustine. Whatever defeat exactly meant. Would he kill her? Would Yana want him to do so?

Augustine was still her mother after all. They might have not talked to each other in years, but there was a bond between them. Something sentimental. Other people probably wouldn't be bothered by these feelings. Not towards someone like Brooke Augustine. But Yana couldn't shake off her feelings. She wished for the Conduits to be free instead of being locked up in some prison complex where the D.U.P. did god knows what to them. They deserved better. They deserved a chance. On the other hand she knew that, very possibly all Conduits, held a certain grudge against Augustine. A few of them willing to kill her if they could, so would it be a good idea for both parties to roam the streets? It wasn't but what were the options to keep all the Conduits save? Also all those people who were afraid of them?

Whatever plan Delsin had, if he had any to begin with, it had to be good otherwise things would turn out worse in the end. Not that Yana thought it could get any worse. It had been years ago, back in New Marais but then things got better. If it was thanks to the D.U.P. or not... well, who could tell. People might have felt saver after Curdun Cay was established but the Conduits sure didn't. True people weren't randomly killed out on the streets – that had happened, not often but it did – when others assumed they were different than them. A simple call and the D.U.P. showed up taking care of any Conduit related problem but often leaving enough evidence they had been to a city just like they did here in Seattle. Now some might say things were different here because there were at least two Conduits on the loose who had been in Curdun Cay before. The question how they managed to escape was another thing.

"What do you think?", Yana petted Brownie who was lying right next to her. Even though she didn't like it when he slept in the bed she was glad he did now because it gave her the feeling that she wasn't alone. His presence was extremely soothing. He probably had no idea that he was providing Yana relief for the fears slowly building up inside of her. "There might be a lot of people who would want her dead. I can't blame them", even though her 'hate' against her mother was different from what the Conduits felt she could understand them well.

"Meow."

"I guess I'm even more afraid about what might happen when people find out who I am, rather than what they'll do to her."

She always had been afraid of that. People finding out she was the daughter of someone who was feared by Conduits and normal people alike. Someone who could kill without second thought. Five years ago, when they met, Yana had seen a cold and stoic woman. That didn't change over the years. Whenever there was a report or an article with a picture of Augustine she wouldn't smile. Sometimes Yana believed it was because of the concrete powers. But of course this was just a silly idea of hers when she was younger.

That the powers Conduits had affected their bodies in more ways than simply running faster or firing stuff from their hands.

She had noticed the heat radiating from Delsin's body when he sat next to her though. It wasn't much, he probably didn't even notice it himself or maybe she was imagining things. Either it was in fact a side effect of his powers or something else. She decided to check this the next time they would meet. Next time. Yana was curious what Delsin and Reggie were up to now. Knowing the D.U.P. there would be news as soon as something happened so literally all Yana had to do was to wait.

But waiting was a bad thing considering their current situation with Betty and the rest of the tribe. They could die any given moment without help. God, Yana prayed they wouldn't die. Betty seemed to be someone important to the brothers and she probably was as important as a real family member. Yana shook her head. There was no time to think about this right now. Of course she wanted everything to turn out positive, but these thoughts kept her away from a good nights sleep.

So she just hoped that maybe tomorrow would be a better day for all of them.

**~ooo~**

"I found out where the communication center is located, you'll love this."

The Rowe brothers were currently having breakfast in a little diner not too far from the hotel Reggie was staying at. Delsin slept there as well but since Reggie had no need for a panic at the hotel he had asked Delsin to sneak inside so no one would notice him.

The younger man didn't mind. Even though this whole 'You have to be careful' attitude he got from his brother was bothering him, he could understand what Reggie meant or what he was afraid of. Even now while he just sat on his chair and enjoyed his food he got some strange looks, some people were mumbling things he couldn't understand but seeing their looks he knew it was about him. Seemed like he was no stranger anymore even though all he did so far was to destroy one command center. And maybe some more cameras. Not to mention the people he freed from the pens.

But there was no time to think about this. His brother had a clue and Delsin was sure the real fun would begin now. "I love anything that means I'm 'hurting' the D.U.P. and Augustine. So where is it?"

Reggie took a sip of his coffee. "A place you wanted to visit since the moment we drove here."

Slowly raising an eyebrow Delsin began to understand what place Reggie meant. "Seriously? The Space Needle?"

"Yes, the Space Needle", he grinned. It was interesting to see how easily he could make his brother happy. But then of course there was one problem: how to get up there? "The whole area is shut down. You need to be careful when you get there. There's another mobile D.U.P. center nearby so they'll might sent reinforcements once they notice you."

"I got it: be sneaky. Be careful", Delsin leaned back in his seat. "What do you think I'm doing?"

"Not being sneaky, otherwise the people wouldn't recognize you", Reggie pointed towards two giggling girls no older than eighteen, who turned away as soon as they noticed Delsin looking their way. "You got fans. I'm just not sure whether this is a good thing or not."

"Well... I have to say I like having fans."

"Sure you do."

"You're jealous", who wouldn't be? Having fans or whatever you wanted to call these giggling girls was something... nice. Delsin liked being the center of attention though he preferred the attention of a certain red haired female right now. "She's cute. I mean Yana."

"Delsin don't start this please", Reggie had already noticed his brother wasn't necessarily uninterested in the woman. But either Yana didn't notice the looks Delsin gave her or she ignored them. "Listen to me: she seems nice yes and it's reassuring to know there are people who don't hate you but please be careful. If someone... if Augustine notices you hanging around with people who are on your side...", he paused. How should he explain this? Delsin probably had an idea what he was trying to say. "She'll be in danger."

The Conduit knew that but as long as he could do something against that he would. Just like freeing people who were held captive because they had the Conduit gene. He just wanted to help them no matter what. Yana was right when she said people might help him in return if they saw that not all people like him were bad and that in the end they had the same enemy. "I'll keep an eye on her. Besides I don't believe Augustine will do something bad to her with all those people around", well, in some way he was right about this without knowing. Delsin had seen what Augustine did to people who weren't willing to cooperate with her. He just hoped she was careful because a lot of people didn't want the D.U.P. around, her reputation was bad enough already. Attacking innocents would only give her more problems.

What both men didn't expect though was that Augustine wouldn't harm Yana because of said reputation but because of family ties.

**~ooo~**

_"You sure you're okay?"_

"Yes, I'm sure", Yana grinned at the worried voice of her best friend. It was strange for both of them to just talk over the phone without the possibility to hug each other. Yana missed lying on the couch together while enjoying something to drink and some food along with watching movies. Normally they would see each other every day, it was something Yana missed. "It's just... being stuck in a city sucks."

_"Not being able to get home sucks too."_

"You know what I mean. I would rather be in San Francisco right now and not only because you're there."

There was a long pause on the other side of the line. Yana could hear some voices in the background before Natalie talked again, this time a lot quieter than before. _"Does she know you're living in Seattle? I mean... there's cameras everywhere. I wonder what she'll do when she sees you."_

"I hope she doesn't. The last thing I need is my mother mingling with my life but I have to be honest when I say I've been thinking about what she might do or say if she found out", Yana wondered if she should tell Natalie about Delsin and Reggie. She would tell her sooner or later so why not now? It seemed right to do so. Who knew when they would talk to each other again and under what circumstances. "I met someone. Two guys, they're from Salmon Bay."

_"Stranded in Seattle huh?"_

"Not really stranded. They came here after Augustine destroyed the bridges and set up her military stuff."

_"How?"_

"One of them is a Conduit."

_"... Yana, no. Tell me you're lying"_ , Natalie paused, waiting for an answer but she never got one. Yana decided to stay quiet and Natalie had to acknowledge that her friend wasn't telling lies. _"You know I would've appreciated it if you didn't tell me which brings me to a new question: why are you telling me you met a Conduit right after we're talking about what your mother might do if she found out you're in the city. Please don't tell me you're planning to do something stupid."_

"Will you listen to me?"

_"Sure, I just don't know if I like what you're going to tell me."_

Probably not. Yana's dreams were plagued by her mother, the people she hurt and when she woke up a sentence Joe said to her was stuck inside her head. She told Natalie the short story why Delsin and Reggie were here and who they were exactly. At least Natalie seemed to be fine with her explanations and since Reggie was an officer, she felt reassured. At least until Yana told her about a really dumb idea of hers. "I couldn't sleep because I continued to think about their friends and when I finally dozed off I dreamed of them. I can't help but to feel bad for what Augustine does... you know Joe said something to me that is stuck in my head", Yana took a deep breath before she continued talking. "He said that, if my relationship with Augustine would be better, I could ask her to leave."

_"That won't work though probably."_

"Yeah, but I wonder... those people in Salmon Bay did nothing wrong. If I'd ask her to help them..."

_"No you won't! If you go to her she will lock you up or... I don't know. Do you seriously believe she would help them?"_

"I know it's a stupid idea", more than stupid to be honest but Yana couldn't help but to think that it might work. She wanted to help them, more than anything else. Yana began to wonder if things would've turned out differently if she had been more persistent back when she was younger and met her mother for the first time. That maybe, if she had been able to make Augustine understand she needed her, her mother would've come home. That she would leave the Conduits alone. "It's just that somehow I feel responsible for what she does."

_"Which is stupid! You're not responsible for her actions. Stop telling yourself stuff like this and when I get home and you're not there I swear: I'll find you and burn down your whole cappuccino supplies as a punishment so please, please promise me you won't go to her"_ , Natalie was desperate to keep her best friend away from making a mistake she would regret her whole life. She would give anything to be in Seattle right now, especially because Yana didn't answer her. _"Yana?"_

"Still here", she sighed. "Listen, I just... I don't know what to think or what to do. I probably just need a few days to think about stuff, it would be so much easier if you were here. I could need a hug."

_"Then just wait for me and hug Brownie until I'm back."_

"He'll probably run away long before you're back", Yana's blue eyes fell on Brownie. He hadn't left her side since the moment she got out of bed. It was like he had the feeling she was up to something stupid and tried to keep her away from doing this.

_"So what are you gonna do today?"_ , Natalie changed the subject so Yana would think about something else than her mother or her new acquaintances.

A little shrug, unseen by her best friend. "I don't know. I need some food for me and Brownie so I guess I'll be doing some grocery shopping later. Maybe watch a movie and go to bed early because I have morning shift tomorrow."

_"The store is still open?"_

"Yeah, don't ask. We're closed on a few days though but Michelle thinks it's better if we come to work. You know, try to live a normal life as long as this situation lasts", well the good thing was they could work off a few things they didn't have time for up until now. Like sorting out bills. Yana didn't mind. It would be worse if she had to stay home without having anything to do because she would think about too many things. Things that began to eat her up from the inside. "I guess I should get ready. You probably have something to do as well?"

_"Mhm, mum and dad want to do a little sightseeing tour. I'm not looking forward to it but it might be funny. I'll bring you a souvenir. Brownie as well."_

"I'll tell him. And you say hello from me to your family."

_"I will, see you soon."_

See you soon.

If only that would be true. Brownie let out a low purr as Yana stroked his fur. "Well I guess I should do a shopping list. Any wishes on your food?"

"Meow~"

"Thought so."

**~ooo~**

"Reg, this is so cool!", Delsin was tiptoeing around like a child who was allowed to visit the candy store for the first time in his life. Reggie was right when he said the whole area around the Space Needle was shut down. The science center nearby was used as another mobile command center. Delsin decided to pay them a visit later. Maybe not today, but definitely tomorrow. There was a lot of stuff to do after all. Shutting down all the command centers, finding the other Conduits, finding Augustine.

Delsin also decided to get rid of all those scan stations on his way.

While he could take shortcuts through vents and over rooftops everyone else had to take the way right through the checkpoints. There were places that were filled with people who had to wait for their turn. He had seen a station going off when a middle aged man put his finger on the scanner. The D.U.P. soldiers reacted within seconds, the poor man didn't even know what was going on. He looked as shocked as everyone else when he was shoved into the direction of the pen.

Delsin didn't shed another thought and ran to his rescue, taking out the soldiers, as well as the whole checkpoint.

Besides the thankful look of the man and a few other people, Delsin was rewarded with a shard boosting up his powers. It was the same blue light the core relays produced, just less powerful but he noticed the shards were implemented in a lot of stuff. Be it the scanners or little drones that were flying around. And there were a lot of drones. It looked like the D.U.P. wanted to have an eye on every single person in Seattle. That meant if he took out whatever he would find on top of the Space Needle, the people would have a little more privacy. At least he believed the drones couldn't send their information's anymore once he was finished here.

"Looks like a giant antenna", he mumbled more to himself than his brother. "This is not what I expected from a visit to the Space Needle."

_"Well, this whole trip is nothing I expected from coming to Seattle. We have to make the best out of it."_

"Easy for you to say when I'm the one who has to climb up a, in my opinion, not really safe looking building", Delsin agreed with his brother that it would be safer if he stayed in the background. Since Delsin was a Conduit there was a lot of stuff he could do which his brother couldn't. Like vanishing real fast if he had to. Not to forget his fast healing abilities. "At least there's nothing bad that could happen. I mean, I can fall down but my powers should protect me from any harm right?"

_"I suppose so. Still, I would be calmer if I could be sure nothing will happen once you start climbing up. I don't want to pick up your body parts from the sidewalk."_

"There won't be any parts because technically I can use my powers to just glide down, however could you please stop saying this?", even though there really shouldn't be any complications if he would loose his grip, a look up the Space Needle made him feel uneasy. Delsin had no problems with great heights. He would climb on trees and rocks near the coast when he was younger a lot of times but this was something else. Like his childhood playground became bigger and more frightening.

Looking around Delsin found a vent he could use to get to higher ground. There was a lot of metal screwed on the Space Needle itself and that helped Delsin to find a way upwards. It would've not been possible without powers, that was for sure. Speaking about powers he remembered something. "Hey Reg, there's something I've been wondering about. It's about those Conduits with Augustine's powers and the fact I couldn't absorb them. I mean: they are Conduits right? It should have worked."

_"You really tried it?"_

"It was your idea and yes: I tried it but I really wanna know why it didn't work. You tend to have ideas all the time. Some good, some not. I'm hoping for a good one on this matter", he continued his way while he waited for an answer. Luckily he found a ladder that was taking him up to another platform. That meant no dangling on electrical cables at least. "So?"

_"Well"_ , Reggie took a moment to think about it. He didn't know much about Conduits to begin with. Only what people told about them on TV and he had to wonder if or how much of it was true. Even though he believed the D.U.P. was trying to protect the normal people to some extent, he had to acknowledge that the way they did it was wrong. He couldn't deny Delsin was right with that but the thing with Fetch... Reggie couldn't see why you would scare the people even more than they already were. _"Hank was born with it right? Just like you obviously seeing as the scan station labeled you as a Prime Conduit. Those soldiers probably aren't. I'm also not sure if it's 'normal' that so many people should have the same powers."_

"So... you wanna tell me Augustine transferred her powers to those soldiers?", he asked with a raised eyebrow. This sounded strange and also a bit scary because he had no idea how this should be possible. It looked like his power was absorbing other powers. This seemed to be uncommon as normally Conduits had the power over certain elements and that wasn't the case with him.

_"Probably. I don't know how it would work though and if I'm honest I don't want to think about it."_

"Me neither. I guess we'll just continue our way to Augustine then huh?", a thing he would've also done even if he could get the powers from the soldier because he still had a dispute to settle with her. But first he had to get up the Space Needle and also down again. A thing he didn't think through when he started his ascent. And now, while dangling on some cable Delsin tried to think of something positive to keep himself from thinking about what could happen if he really fell or the moment he needed to get down again. Powers or not, he didn't feel safe right now. "Say, the girl, Yana I mean. Is there something between you two?"

_"Between us?"_

"Yeah, like: do you like her?"

_"No, at least not in the way you're implying here. She's nice from what I can tell and besides she's a little too young for me."_

"Other people aren't bothered by stuff like this."

_"We should end this call."_

"If you say so", Delsin had to smile on the inside. Since his brother didn't show any interest in Yana he could try his luck. It was just like Reggie said: Yana seemed nice and it was something entirely different for him now since he was a Conduit; which probably made it hard to find someone to spend your life with or at least a certain amount of time of your life. After all not all relationships were meant to be for eternity. Seeing Yana not being afraid and also not swooning all over him right from the start was something very positive.

Delsin took this moment to pause a second and look around. He nearly reached the top and he definitely had quite a view from up here. It was breathtaking. At least if he ignored certain things like the D.U.P. checkpoints he could see as well as those concrete towers on the other side of the city. He could only imagine what the people on the other side must be going through. They probably had it much worse than the people he met in this part of the city so far and all the concrete? To him it was a sure sign Augustine was there, so some day his journey would bring him there. He would help those people as well, that was for sure.

For a moment Delsin wondered if Augustine could see him right now and if he should wave over to the other side. Ah, no. They would meet sooner or later.

His eyes traveled upwards. There was another cord he could use to continue his way. It also was the only thing he could use anyway since there weren't any more platforms around. The moment he jumped up to grab it his phone rang again. This time it wasn't his brother but Betty. Delsin couldn't help but to smile as he answered. "Hey Betty, how are you?"

_"Fine. Where are you? I couldn't reach Reggie."_

"I'm, well...", looking down he gulped. "Hanging around the Space Needle?"

_"Oh, so I'm bothering you right now? You know, I'll call again later. Just be careful and bring me a postcard"_ , her voice seemed friendly like always. Delsin could imagine her right now: lying on the bed, smiling as she talked to him.

"Okay Betty, I will for sure if the giftshop is open but it'll be a while until Reggie and I are back just so you know."

_"I know, I only want to make sure you're doing fine. Talk to you later Dear."_

Delsin was glad to hear that Betty was fine. It was one of his biggest fears, that something might happen to her while he was gone. There was a lot of pressure lying on his shoulders and even if he would never tell his brother: he was afraid of not getting back home in time. So, theoretically there was no time to befriend with the people around, which also meant Yana but he wanted to get to know her. He just had to make this fast. Maybe get Augustine's powers, go back home to save the tribe and then simply come back to Seattle again to spent some more time with Yana. Sounded like a plan right?

When he reached the end of the cord the only way he could use from here was another vent. Delsin had no idea where it would lead to but there was no other way. Besides going down again and that wasn't an option at this point. Taking a deep breath – he had no idea what would await him after all – Delsin took a step forward and made a smoke dash trough the vent only to find himself on the observation deck once his body was put back together again. There were a few soldiers, nothing Delsin would have a lot of trouble with. Especially not after firing off a few smoke bombs.

The real fun awaited him on top of the Space Needle though.

He never expected a warm welcome, but he never thought he would run right into a little army either. The moment he arrived he had concrete around his feet and thus hindering him from moving anywhere. Looking up at his attacker Delsin saw a type of D.U.P. soldier he hadn't seen before so far. He wasn't wearing armor at all but he didn't seem to need it in the first place because he 'made' his own armor with lots of small concrete shards circling around his body like a shield. It was the first time Delsin had seen something like this. All the other D.U.P.'s did wear some kind of armor and used their concrete powers for attacking or subduing enemies.

"Reg, hey, you there?"

_"Yes."_

Dodging an incoming attack Delsin took cover behind some boxes. "I got a little problem up here. There's like a whole army trying to take me out."

_"Sounds like they don't want you to mess around with their stuff."_

"No shit Sherlock."

Reggie let out a small sigh. _"Sorry just... I don't know: be careful and focus. Is there anything you can see? I mean something to take down the communications?"_

"I guess", Delsin jumped to avoid a few shots, taking out two soldiers on his way before trying to figure out where exactly the others were located. Especially that strange concrete shield guy. "There's some kind of anchor. If I could destroy it the antennas might come down", he just had to actually manage to do that. The fact that there were quite a lot of soldiers – it almost felt like they knew he was coming here even if that couldn't be the case – made it hard to do anything else besides running for cover and attacking the soldiers when he could make sure he would manage to take them out.

It got easier the less soldiers he had to keep an eye on. He still had to be careful though, jumping behind cover every now and then or simply running away before his feet would be caught in concrete again. Delsin found out that if it happened a smoke dash was the answer to freedom. For a moment at least. He really needed to get rid of that concrete shield around the soldier. Delsin noticed it became weaker the more he shot at it. Maybe that was his way out: he had an idea what to do now he just needed to make it work. At that moment he was glad he decided to drain some core relays previously because otherwise he wouldn't have a chance at all.

Checking over his cover every now and then till he could see the soldier Delsin gave a few warning shots to get some kind of reaction. And indeed: the soldier showed himself. Delsin took the chance, jumping over some boxes and firing a smoke bomb directly at the other guy. Coughing on the smoke the soldier let his guard down only to be greeted by a metal chain to his face as Delsin appeared in front of him. The soldier couldn't even tell what happened. One moment he tried to regain his breath, the other he felt a sharp pain and fell to the ground only to be chained by what seemed to be handcuffs made of smoke.

"Didn't expect that huh?", Delsin asked with a cocky grin on his lips. Brushing away some imaginary dust of his clothes he looked around.

Every other soldier seemed to be defeated as well so he had a moment to take everything in: the antenna, all the boxes, the anchor. Delsin turned his attention to the contraption holding the whole antenna thing together. To him it was clear that, if he managed to destroy the anchor everything would crash to the ground and that was exactly what he wanted to happen. And so he started to fire some shots at it. Without much success. The smoke bounced of the metal like water drops. There was no way this would work, he needed more power for that. Taking a few steps backwards he noticed a core relay he had missed during all the ruckus going on. Delsin hoped this would come in handy now.

Firing two shots at the relay it opened up. The blue light swirling around the relay made Delsin giddy with excitement. Maybe Reggie was right and he was addicted to it but he needed it to become stronger. He needed more power to protect his family and friends and this light was the answer to that. Reaching towards the light to absorb it the first few particles came flying into his direction almost instantly, slowly encircling his hands, then his arms. More and more. It felt incredibly good; the tingling, the sudden rush of power that went through Delsin's whole body. He could feel himself becoming stronger and stronger with each relay, each shard he absorbed but this relay... it felt different.

Tumbling back after all the little blue particles were absorbed by his body Delsin fell to the ground. His whole body was heating up. It felt like he was burning on the inside and it only got worse over the time. Whatever was happening to him wasn't a good thing and he couldn't do anything to stop it.

**~ooo~**

"Delsin. Delsin can you hear me?", Reggie practically screamed into his phone in the hopes of getting an answer. He could hear the ongoing fight, then everything turned quiet. He could hear his brother breathing, sometimes he could swear he heard him curse. It sounded like he was in pain and Reggie could do nothing to help him.

Running out on the open street, he had been inside a small cafe this whole time, he tried to be careful to not look suspicious while talking to his brother over the phone. Instead he tried to look like a normal man, enjoying his coffee while talking on the phone but now... with him running outside, eyes staring frantically towards the location of the Space Needle he didn't look so normal anymore.

A waitress came after him. Telling him he needed to pay his bill before leaving. That was all she could say because right in that moment not only the two of them but everyone else could see a trail of smoke shooting up into the air from the top of the Space Needle. Everything stopped that moment: cars stopped driving, people stopped walking. All eyes were fixed on whatever happened right now. There had been no sound but it looked like someone shot a rocket into the air which steadily became slower the higher it got only to come to an almost complete halt.

Reggie shoved a few dollar notes into the hands of the waitress before running closer to the Space Needle when he saw Delsin materializing right before the smoke reached the highest position. Yes he was far away in some way but the red beanie which could be seen clearly was enough indication that it was Delsin. Something told Reggie to run to his brother even if he couldn't help him but seeing Delsin, having his body back, dropping down faster and faster made his stomach twist. "Delsin!"

But either Delsin couldn't hear him or ignored him. So Reggie watched as his brother vanished out of sight, very probably colliding with the top of the Space Needle. A cloud of smoke washed over said top and within seconds all the metal strapped to it started to fall down piece by piece. People started screaming and running away. No one knew what was happening and the shock of someone, a bio terrorist, being on the loose seemed to frighten most of them. Only a few people began to understand what just happened. Reggie could hear whispers of those who realized the D.U.P. was loosing control over the city. That things started to change because of something they feared.

Because of his brother.

_"Woohoo! Hey Reg, did you see that?"_

"You mean you dropping down the sky like a stone?", Reggie asked as he answered the phone. "Yeah, I saw that. Care to tell me what happened?"

_"I have no idea. I mean... there was this relay, I drained it and then... my body started burning. I blacked out or something and then bam! I'm just flying into the sky."_

"More like someone fired off a rocket. You feeling okay?"

_"Feeling great"_ , the grin was clearly audible. Whatever those relays did to Delsin he loved it and that made Reggie only more worried. If he ever had any control over his younger brother it was long gone. _"I might have split into various pieces a few moments ago but that was worth it."_

"You sound pretty happy."

_"Of course. The city belongs to us!"_

"Slow down will you. The city doesn't belong to us. Taking down the communication center gave us more space to gather information in the closer vicinity without being seen but there are still a ton of cameras in the rest of the city and of course the D.U.P. soldiers", as if on cue a D.U.P. truck drove past him. Destination: Space Needle. Where else would it go to? "Care to come down? We should get going."

_"Sorry there's something I need to do before that. Just give me a few minutes."_

It took only seconds and Reggie could hear the sound of spray cans over the speaker. There was no way? The D.U.P. was on it's way and Delsin thought he had enough time to leave a message or a picture for them? For the first time since all of this had started Reggie wished to have powers as well because that way he could get up the Space Needle, grab his brother and run. Right now Augustine knew exactly where he was so it was even more dangerous to stay in the same place longer than necessary. They needed to get somewhere else.

"Delsin we don't have time to...", looking up he suddenly saw what Delsin had been up to. The former flag of the D.U.P. was now adorned by a new picture: just like on the back of Delsin's vest two eagles were looking down on the city almost guardian like. There was no way to miss this. Neither the D.U.P. nor the citizens could ignore it.

_"Hey Reg. Can you see that?"_

"You're joking right? You can see that all the way to Portland", shaking his head Reggie didn't even bother to get his brother down from the Space Needle. Delsin wanted the people, especially the D.U.P. to know that he was in the city, that he was on his way to help whoever needed help. It reminded Reggie of himself and the need to help others. Delsin wasn't a cop so his ways were quite different but the important thing was that they would work out in the end. Looking around and seeing a few people smiling at each other after the first shock Reggie couldn't help but smile as well.

Maybe things would change for the better from now on.

**~ooo~**

"Who the hell is this?"

No one at the D.U.P. headquarters had the slightest idea who this guy was. He appeared out of nowhere, climbed up the Space Needle, destroyed important equipment, attacked about a dozen D.U.P.'s who were stationed there and now he vanished again leaving everybody clueless.

"He's a bio terrorist", someone said his voice low. "He wasn't in the truck. That's someone new."

Augustine stood in front of the big screens, her eyes fixed on them as she watched the metal construction falling down to the ground. Several smaller screens turned to static right on cue. This Conduit, she remembered him. Delsin Rowe from Salmon Bay, the small town where the truck crashed and the Conduits escaped before coming here to Seattle. What was it he said? He 'caught' being a Conduit from Hank? That moment she didn't believe him one bit, that was one of the reasons she had questioned other people from the tribe but none gave her answers. Seeing that he was fine and that he used what she could identify as Hank's powers she had to acknowledge that he indeed told her the truth about him being a Conduit in the first place.

It was time to take care of him before he would cause more chaos and more importantly destroy more D.U.P. equipment making it unable to track down the two still missing Conduits and him.

**~ooo~**


	6. Déjà-vu

**~ooo~**

Besides the fact that Yana didn't sleep well, the rest of the day turned out pretty good so far. The call with her best friend, some cuddling time with Brownie and now she was on her way to the nearest supermarket to do some grocery shopping. She didn't necessarily liked that but it was something she had to do since no one else would do it for her. And so while she was at it she took a little detour to get herself a cappuccino as a bonus.

Taking a small sip she wondered if Delsin had been messing with the D.U.P.'s main communication center already. If she was honest with herself she was curious what he wanted to do exactly, especially since she herself had no idea where it was located and what it looked like. Of course, knowing the D.U.P. she would hear something about it on the news later this day. But a small part of her wanted to know about it right now. Taking down the communication center would very probably give a lot of people more peace. It wouldn't be the end of the D.U.P. for sure but it was one step in the right direction. Yana hoped Delsin would manage to accomplish his goals. He seemed so sure he could take on the D.U.P. and Augustine by himself or almost by himself since he needed more powers for that.

But at least he was trying to do something. Not a lot of people dared to question the D.U.P. in general let alone fight it. The few protestors who dared to open express their opinion were silenced fast. Maybe that would change now too. If Delsin wouldn't be a Conduit Yana would think he was crazy to risk his life not only for his family but also for strangers. Since he was a Conduit his chances in succeeding were better for sure even though it was still a crazy thing to do.

While thinking being lost in her thoughts Yana suddenly had a déjà vu.

One step forward and around the corner. It was then when someone appeared in front of her and she collided with the unknown person. Her cup, just like the day before when she bumped into Reggie, fell to the ground. Some parts of the warm liquid inside the cup also found it's way onto Yana's white blouse during the collision leaving dark stains on the fabric. Cursing every god there was Yana turned her blue eyes to look at the culprit and almost shouted at him when she saw a familiar face.

"What's with you and your brother bumping into me and being the reason I'm cappuccino-less?!"

Scratching his head, an embarrassed look on his face as he looked at what had happened, Delsin couldn't help but to feel bad. He had wanted to see Yana but not like this. After his trip to the Space Needle he was just so unbelievable happy that he wanted to share it with someone other than Reggie who – let's be honest here – didn't appreciate Delsin's actions to the same extent as the Conduit himself. But Yana maybe would. At least that was what he had hoped a few minutes before.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to..", he pointed towards the cappuccino stains on Yana's clothes. "You know.. I invite to a new one to make up for.. your loss. Right now if you like to."

"If you haven't noticed: I'm wearing a blouse covered with cappuccino which means I should go home and change into something else. And you want me to follow you around looking like this? Besides, I originally planned to do some grocery shopping before you showed up", under different circumstances Yana would've said 'yes' right away. Not only because of the free drink but also because she was curious what Delsin did during the last few hours. It would've been the perfect opportunity to find out. "It seems bad luck is following me since I met you and your brother."

"That's been yesterday."

"Yesterday's enough to notice that", she started rummaging through her bag for some tissues to wipe away the stains. It didn't help, in fact it seemed to make things worse. She needed to get home in order to change into something else and to soak the blouse in some water.

"Wait", Delsin took off his vest, then his hoodie and handed it to Yana. "Wear this."

If you'd asked someone from the tribe almost everyone would have said Delsin and his hoodie were like Siamese twins. They belonged together, just like him and his beanie, and he only took the hoodie off when he slept. Though during the cold winter months... Giving this particular piece of clothing to someone else? Even if it only was for a short moment? This was kind of a premiere no one of the other tribe members would witness.

"Excuse me?", instead of giving Yana an answer Delsin pushed the hoodie into her hands mumbling something like 'Just take it' before he put on his vest again. Wearing only the red shirt and the vest above it he looked different from what Yana had seen before. It felt odd. Delsin didn't look too comfortable missing one layer of clothing either. Yana couldn't help but to look at him. Seeing him like this would be the only time she guessed and she enjoyed taking in 'the view'.

Noticing Yana staring at him Delsin grinned. "What? Can't get enough of my good looks?", his grin became wider.

She shook her head. "No, it's just.. you look different. It's hard to describe I guess", she stated, her eyes turning back to the hoodie. She took another moment before she finally put it on. It was still warm and way too big for her. Like she had bought it three sizes bigger than she needed it to be. She was fighting to pull the sleeves up far enough so that at least her hands would be 'free'.

Delsin followed every little movement Yana made with his eyes. Almost like a lion did with his prey.

Seeing the young woman wear some of his clothing made his stomach flutter with something he couldn't describe. The hoodie fit her – well, not like the size of it but the way she looked a little bit lost while wearing it was kind of cute. Trying to sort his thoughts before Yana would catch him staring at her he decided to focus on something different. To be exact: on the fact she needed to get some shopping done.

"Well.. since I owe you a cappuccino and you were on your way to the next supermarket I say: why don't we go shopping now. I'll help you and on our way home we stop by wherever you like to go so I can make amends. Sounds like a plan right?"

It did.

And suddenly it didn't even matter anymore that the blouse was sticking to Yana's skin because of the stains. While Delsin turned around to continue walking down the street in the same direction Yana was walking before, she herself kept waiting for another moment. Burying her nose in the hoodie a smile came to her lips. Taking in the scent she noticed the fabric smelled like smoke and pine trees. To her it was a reassuring scent and she couldn't recall the last time since the city lock down she felt so at ease.

**~ooo~**

"You really climbed up the Space Needle?"

Both, Yana and Delsin, carried one shopping bag each while they were on their way to the Latte Owl Yana usually went to. The Conduit had offered to carry both bags but Yana declined. She wasn't that weak, though she knew Delsin was just being nice and she appreciated that fact.

"How else was I supposed to get all that stuff down?"

"Guess I have to wait for the news to see that."

"You're really interested in that huh?"

She gave him a nod. "Yeah. Mostly in the reactions of the D.U.P.'s. I can only imagine what their faces looked like."

"Probably like that", Delsin made an exaggerated face to show his surprise. "Oh my god, an evil Bio-Terrorist climbed up the Space Needle and sprayed a new picture on our flag."

"You did what?"

"Set a sign. I'll show you on occasion."

"Show me? You want to.. shoot me up the Space Needle like a canon ball?"

"Mhm", he gave it a short thought. "Would be an option but I want to treat you to a drink right? So this might not be the best idea."

"You could try that afterwards."

"You think I'd do that?"

"Well", she turned to Delsin, a grin plastered on her face. "You're an evil Bio-Terrorist after all."

Both of them laughed. Not only when Yana made the comment but also in general while they were on their way to the Latte Owl. It felt like they had known each other for longer than just yesterday, it felt kind of familiar to be together. In some ways Delsin reminded Yana of her best friends brothers. Maybe that was the reason both of them got along so well. To be honest; whatever it was Yana was glad about it. Turning her attention back to where she walked she noticed quiet a few people whispering when they spotted Delsin. Besides the usual words like 'freak', 'Bio-Terrorist' or 'Conduit' she could swear she heard 'Banner Man' every once in a while. Since she assumed Delsin knew what it meant, she asked him but didn't get an answer to that. Only that he wasn't fond of the name and that people should come up with something better.

But Yana continued asking. She was way too curious about the name and even after they arrived at the café and ordered their drinks she didn't stop. Not until Delsin told her the story behind it. It was clear he felt uncomfortable and Yana felt a little bad she made him talk about it. She had to laugh about it though.

"Maybe you should have sprayed your name on the flag."

"That wouldn't be cool."

"It's about coolness now, I see", she gave Joe a small thankful nod as he placed two cups on the table. She could see he knew who Delsin was just by the look on his face. The news about what happened at the Space Needle seemed to travel fast. The D.U.P. probably had a picture of Delsin as well. She was sure they hoped people would call them as soon as they spotted Delsin and report where he was at. Which made Yana wonder why no one had showed up so far. Either not everyone in the cafe right now recognized Delsin or they didn't care. She hoped is was the later. Pushing the thought aside – she decided to talk to Joe later because he looked like he needed some answers – she turned back to Delsin. "So.. now that you got the D.U.P.'s attention what's yours and Reggie's plan?"

"Well", he turned the cup in his hands. "Reggie is at the S.P.D. right now trying to get some information about the other two Conduits. There are some clues about this.. Fetch or whatever you call her. We just need to find out where exactly she is, then I'll talk to her, take her powers."

"Do you think it's that easy?", Yana doubted that but Delsin just smiled as he leaned back in his chair saying something along the lines of 'How could anyone say no to my charms?'. Delsin sure had a lot of confidence but Yana doubted that would actually help him when he finally met Fetch.

**~ooo~**

"We have footage of the Bio-Terrorist who is responsible for the attack at the Space Needle", one of the men in the large room full of desks and screens on the walls, showing various places all around Seattle, started to play a video on the biggest of the screens. "The recording was made about half an hour afterwards. We don't know where he was before all that, he just.. appeared."

Augustine's eyes were fixated on the screen which was showing a street in a rather quiet neighborhood. A few people walked down the street, a young woman took a sip from a paper cup as suddenly, on the left part of the screen, a cloud of smoke appeared to reveal the Bio-Terrorist responsible for the latest mayhem. He kept still for a moment, turned to look around the corner of where he stood, took what looked like a deep breath and started walking right before the woman made it to the same corner he was at.

They bumped into each other and Augustine could see the woman wasn't pleased with the man's behavior. But what happened then was something she didn't understand. Instead of just passing by they began to talk resulting in the Bio-Terrorist handing her his hoodie which she took with some hesitation. There seemed to be a little more talking before they finally continued their way together.

Did they know each other?

"Is there another recording? One with an angle to see the woman's face?"

"Yes, one second", the man started typing something on the keyboard in front of him pretty fast. The video started again, this time it was possible to see the woman better though it was still hard. "The camera isn't close by. We zoomed in on her as good as possible so we could see her face."

It took a moment before the woman came into the picture and her face was visible. The video paused immediately. "We've checked the database", another man began. "There's no match. We have no evidence that she might be another Bio-Terrorist. At least not a registered one."

"Not an unregistered either", Augustine's voice was low as she took a closer step towards the screen. She stared at the flickering picture for a long time before speaking. "I want every information that you can get. Where she lives, where she works. Every place she goes to. I don't care if you think a certain information might not be important: find out everything!"

"Ma'am?"

"Now!"

"Yes ma'am."

A slightly disparaging sound left her lips as she turned away to leave the men so they could continue working. Her thoughts drifted back to the woman. It had been five years. In contrast to then the woman appeared to be a lot more mature but her facial features barely changed. It didn't matter how much time had passed, Augustine would always recognize her daughter. However, she wondered why Yana was in Seattle. When they had met she was still living in New Orleans, together with her father and now she was here. Five years were a long time. A lot of things could change and obviously they did. Augustine never expected to see her daughter again, a part of her didn't even want that if she was honest with herself. Not because she hated Yana but because she was – though she would never admit that – scared someone could harm her. Which now wasn't a farfetched thought anymore.

Yana knew the Bio-Terrorist. Whatever the reason behind this was, Augustine didn't like it at all. She had to find out how they met, how close they were and she had to stop her daughter from making any mistakes she would regret in the future. No matter the consequences she would face.

**~ooo~**


	7. A little piece of the past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm getting close to the chapters I have to rewrite completely because there's a lot of things I want to change from my first verion. I've already been working on those while translating the next pieces whenever I find time for it. Work keeps me from it more than I like it thanks to a new system we're working with - when it's working because honestly it's a piece of crap everyone complains about.
> 
> Before I start to complain about this now enjoy the chapter. Until next time.

Delsin and Yana stayed at the cafe for a rather long time enjoying their drinks and some cake. So long that they were actually lucky none of the groceries in the bags would come to life and run away at a certain point because they weren't stowed in a fridge.

The young woman had excused herself for a moment, using it to walk over to Joe who, there was no way not to notice, looked over to the pair once in a while. He was especially focused on Delsin. Eying him like he would find an answer to whatever question he had on his mind. There _had_ been news about the incident at the Space Needle. Both on TV and radio. Thanks to the first everyone knew what the 'evil Bio-Terrorist' looked like. Which explained all the strange looks and murmurs.

"He's not evil."

Joe gave Yana a long look. "Everyone who buys you a cappuccino is on your 'not-evil' list."

"That's not true", she answered with a pout only to receive a sigh in return.

Delsin really didn't look evil sipping his hot cocoa like everything in the world was okay. Well, at least as evil as the D.U.P. made him look because they had a big problem with him. The rest of the people welcomed the fact he banished the soldiers from the city. Somehow you could say they were happy. Not because of who was 'saving' them but that someone actually did. There was still fear in their eyes. Fear of the unknown. That Delsin might just look at them and they would turn to ashes within seconds. Not that there was a power like that right?

Maybe the looks surely would never stop. Yana was just happy no one went and called the police or worse. Despite a few people in the cafe tensing up when they had entered earlier nothing more happened. No one ran away or complained about Delsin being here. They just continued their normal routine. If it wasn't for the D.U.P. and the general fear of Conduits one could think it was just a normal day in Seattle. With two people enjoying their drinks at a cafe while chatting like old friends amongst other customers.

Joe was grateful as well. While he never really had a problem with Conduits due to the fact no one ever harmed him in any way, he was still careful. He had known Yana for a long time and since they had talked about her family and how she grew up, he knew she was thinking different than most people when it came to Conduits. Maybe some of that rubbed off on him. That plus the way she looked while standing in front of him right now. Wearing a piece of clothing which wasn't hers and too big as well. She looked like a small child asking for a cookie with the cutest smile it could muster. He just had to believe what she told him.

If Delsin was as evil as the D.U.P. said he was supposed to be he would've already attacked someone. Joe was a little weary though. Despite no one complaining about Delsin being here, Joe was aware that he could get into trouble if the D.U.P. would find out. They didn't care about much besides capturing Conduits. And they did everything they had to in order to do that. Hell, if he wouldn't get into trouble Yana sure would. Whether she ignored the danger she was getting herself into or not was unknown to him.

To him Yana was like a daughter. She came to his cafe right after she moved here. The second she walked through the door he noticed he had never seen her here before. She was new, looked a little lost but as soon as he welcomed her she smiled at him. They talked for hours after that. Both forgetting the time until every other customer had left. Situations like that, with them still being at the cafe at midnight talking about god knows what, still happened once in a while but maybe they wouldn't from now. Because it looked as if Yana found someone else to spend the nights talking about anything with.

Joe noticed the way Delsin looked at Yana. Just like now while she was standing at the counter. Delsin would turn to look at her once in a while, turning away as soon as Joe spotted him doing so. While Yana probably only enjoyed the company as of now, Delsin seemed to like her – based on the looks and that Joe had a few more years of experience in various things. Just like reading people. It came with the job. Kind of. Plus how was he supposed to ignore the puppy look on Delsin's face when he looked at Yana? Be it earlier when they sat together or now while she was standing at the counter.

"If you trust him.."

"I do."

"... then I trust him too. Thanks to him I have one less checkpoint on my way home", Joe smiled a little while thinking about how confused he was when he went home yesterday and realized a checkpoint was, literally, missing. The street looked the same like before Augustine invaded the city with her soldiers. Speaking of Augustine there was something Joe was interested in. "I would like to know if he's aware Augustine.."

Yana shook her head immediately. "He doesn't.. yet I mean. I know I should tell him some day", she started playing with the sleeves of the hoodie. "I just can't tell him about it yet you know?"

"Do you like him?"

"He's nice so.. oh", realizing what Joe meant by 'like' Yana stopped talking for a moment to think about it. She didn't believe in love at first sight. On the other hand she couldn't deny that she found herself drawn towards Delsin. She just didn't know the reason. Maybe a part of her just wanted to help him. To make sure he would make it and help his friends. His family. No, she didn't like him in the way Joe meant it, she felt responsible for what happened. Responsible because it was her mother who did this and she was afraid to confess this to Delsin.

Joe took a deep breath as he dried off a cup. "You know, I can't make you tell him but I can be there to help you. You don't have to do this alone."

"You just asked me if I like him and now you're back to the person who is my mother."

"Because those two things stand in relation, do they not?", he leaned over the counter and whispered so only Yana was able to hear it. There was no one close to them but Joe didn't want to risk it either. "I notice how he looks at you and I notice how you look at him. It might not be the same look but you two might be searching for the same thing: someone who accepts you for who you are. He is a Conduit and you accept him. Something tells me that's not a normal thing for him since he found out about his powers; it sure isn't for other Conduits either. And you want people to accept you as you and not the daughter of Augustine. I'm guessing it means a lot to you if he would accept it."

Joe had no idea how much it would.

Up until now she was fine with living her life the way she did. Having a job she liked, friends, a cat. She didn't care about Augustine. Of course what she did was always present to Yana but it always seemed to be far away. Up until now. Now everything that happened was right in front of her doorstep and she knew, because Delsin was no stranger anymore, the D.U.P. would look for him. Augustine would look for him. And when she would eventually find him, she would also find Yana. At that point, whenever it came, there would be no turning back anymore.

Yana felt like she had an angel and a devil on her shoulder, both telling her different things. The truth was somewhere between them. On one hand she wanted to tell Delsin before he found out on his own because she imagined this would be way worse than when she would just be honest with him. But that was hard. It took her a long time before she told Natalie and she was Yana's best friend. In fact, Natalie's brothers and their parents didn't know. Yana never told them and neither did Natalie. It was a secret between best friends. A secret they never talked about. Then there was Joe. It didn't took long until Yana told him, mostly because she came to trust him within seconds after they met. It took a bit longer until she finally told him the whole story though. It was during one of the nights she would spend at the Latte Owl without watching the time. Resulting in her almost oversleeping for work.

Both, Natalie and Joe, took in the news about Augustine quite good.

There were doubts Delsin would. He had a grudge against her. So what would become of that grudge if he found out the truth? Would Yana be the target of the same grudge in the end?

Delsin wasn't a bad guy, she was sure of it. Seeing how much he wanted to help, Yana just couldn't imagine him going on a rampage and destroy everything in his way. But what if he had a reason for it? Saying 'Augustine is my mother' surely could be a reason to anger him. Since the moment Yana had thought about if she could be of help if she tried to talk to Augustine to go back to Salmon Bay and save all the people she hurt, Yana wondered if Delsin would expect her to do that. What if he would use her to reach his goal?

She couldn't imagine that. Or maybe she just didn't want to do so.

Even though Delsin was angry at Augustine he seemed happy most of the time he and Yana had spent together. In those moments he didn't seem to worry. While he very probably didn't have the time to go on sightseeing tours or spend the morning at a cafe he still did so. It gave Yana a chance to find out more about him, Reggie, their friends. When the D.U.P. said Conduits don't care about the well-being of others they were completely wrong. And it weren't only his friends he wanted to help. Delsin went around town to help the people of Seattle as well. Be it in the form of destroying checkpoints or freeing people held in those cells because they were supposed to be Conduits and needed to be 'taken away'.

No. Yana really didn't and couldn't believe Delsin was bad at all. What kept her from telling him was her own fear. Maybe Joe's idea, of him being there when she was ready to talk about Augustine, wasn't so bad. And maybe it would be good to have Reggie there as well. He needed to know as much as Delsin. The fact he was Delsin's older brother and seemed calmer in different aspects could be an advantage. If only her father or Natalie could be here. She needed another opinion. Or more help. However you want to call it when your thoughts circled around one thing:

how are you supposed to tell someone who hates your mother, because she left their friends to die, that she is – in fact – your mother?

Delsin noticed something was bothering Yana to a high degree.

They were on their way to her home and while they had talked and laughed while they stayed at the cafe, everything of that was gone now. He noticed that Yana had behaved different after talking to, he learned his name the moment they had entered, Joe. Delsin had watched them. They seemed close. If Joe was younger Delsin would call it a brother-sister relationship but since that wasn't the case it was more of a father-daughter relationship. Something Delsin never experienced since his parents died when he was young. Whatever it was the two of them had talked about, it seemed to be of a serious matter.

Maybe Joe had a problem with him?

Was that it? But why would that bother Yana so much? Because she and Joe were close? Delsin knew, from personal experience, that there was a difference when someone he knew told him he did something wrong or Reggie did. It just mattered way more when it was someone from your family. And sometimes it also hurt more.

"Are you okay?"

"What?", Yana turned to face him. "I'm sorry. There's just a lot on my mind at the moment. I'm probably not really nice company right now."

"Are you kidding me? My brother isn't nice company", that made Yana smile. Delsin continued right away. "If there's something you want to talk about I'll listen you know. I'm all ears for you."

"That's nice but..", her eyes traveled down the street. They were almost back at the place she lived and with every step the nervousness increased. "I need more time."

Time? Time for what?

The Conduit didn't understand a thing. Not that he assumed she would share all her secrets with him after a day of meeting him. If it was the other way around he wouldn't do it either. And yet he had the feeling that there was something tearing her apart on the inside. He knew how bad that was, the same went for Reggie.

God, how bad the time after their parents death had been for them.

Both of them didn't talk to each other unless they had to. They wanted to deal with their grief on their own. If it was to not bother the other or trying to be strong, no one could tell. Maybe it was a bit of both. At one point it got so bad they would shout at each other. Nothing like the arguments they had now. When Delsin had too much now he would simply walk away and ignore his brother but back then.. something had snapped. Betty had to go between the two brothers who were fighting with each other in front of the longhouse. She had dragged them back to her home where she waited for them to talk about whatever problem they had. In the end there were a lot of tears but Delsin and Reggie grew closer together.

Since Yana didn't want to talk about whatever it was she kept to herself, Delsin had time to think. About himself, Reggie, what they were doing here. About their parents and what they would think about everything that happened in the past few days and weeks. The accident at their home, Augustine's attack, the trip to Seattle, him being a Conduit. He couldn't help but to wonder what they would say or do.

Betty took the news in pretty good, Reggie, well.. mostly good which was probably because he felt responsible for looking after his 'little' brother. Not that Delsin would stop running into danger just because Reggie asked him to be careful. No, he was far from that. Whenever he saw someone who needed help he would run towards them instead of away. Much to Reggie's dismay. But he was a cop. He went to help people as well even when he wasn't on duty. It was something he couldn't stop doing so why should Delsin?

As he turned back to Yana he noticed she seemed to be lost in her thoughts even deeper than before and while he kind of enjoyed the silence that hung in the air, he wished there was something he could do to make her feel better. There probably wasn't. Not in this moment at least and so he did something Reggie used to do when they were much younger and put a hand on Yana's head making her look up to him. "I understand if you can't talk to me right now but it's not good to keep things locked up either. That's what Betty would say at least. Don't think I want to pry on you. I'm just worried since the day has been nice so far."

"It still is a nice day and you're a nice guy. I mean even though people like you are feared and considered evil by most, you're the best example of being the complete opposite", a smile spread on her lips.

"Humans have prejudices."

"Listen to that. Sounds like you don't consider yourself human."

"I'm not normal after all."

"Most humans aren't normal. Look at me: 85% of the food I consume is cappuccino."

Delsin raised an eyebrow. "What about the remaining 15% then?"

"Mhm.. wine gums, vegetables.. I love watermelons and chocolate. I also like to steal Brownie some of his snacks from time to time", she smiled from ear to ear while Delsin gave her a strange look. Kind of a normal reaction most people gave her when Yana said she ate cat snacks. "Oh! And steaks, my dad makes the best steaks in the world. Sadly I don't get to eat many of those since he still lives in New Orleans."

"What about your mum?", the question was full of innocence.

"I don't have any contact to her. She left me with my dad after I was born. I met her once. Five years ago to be exact. Biggest mistake I ever made."

"I'm sorry."

Yana shook her head. "Don't be. Besides I don't want to ruin your good mood. Believe me, it's better like this."

Delsin didn't say anything. He just nodded and continued to follow Yana until they reached her home. After Yana opened the door both, she and Delsin, entered the foyer where Yana stopped for a second. She put down the bag she was carrying on the first pair of stairs leading up before taking off the hoodie and handing it back to Delsin.

"Thanks for borrowing it to me. I'm gonna take the bags from here on."

"You're not gonna invite me upstairs?"

"No, not today. Besides, I believe you have something to do right? Looking for Fetch if I'm not mistaken", that was at least a good idea. "I hope you and Reggie will be okay. I don't know how she'll react once you show up but.. you have met this Hank guy so I guess you kind of know what to expect. Just be careful."

Delsin scratched the back of his head before putting on his hoodie. "I will, promise. And once I'm finished I'll come by to tell you about it or you just keep an eye out for any news."

"Right. I still have to check those to actually see what you did at the Space Needle", with that she grabbed both bags and began walking up the stairs, but turned around after a few steps to look back at Delsin. "Thanks for today. I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to the next time."

"Me too. I kind of wish you would accompany me instead of my brother", he smiled.

"Well.. I'll leave that to Reggie. I won't be able to help you with much anyway plus I guess he already worries too much about you. There's no way he'll stay home and just lets you run around town."

Delsin agreed with that. Reggie would be of more help because of his connections to the police – something Delsin would never openly admit since he wanted to do this on his own. Or as much on his on as it was possible. After saying goodbye and watching Yana getting up the stairs it was time to go. He hoped his brother had a few clues to Fetch and maybe even the other Conduit if he or she was in Seattle.


	8. Trail of Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for taking so long to update this.
> 
> I posted something on my profile the other day, short version: a lot of shit happened in the past 2 years. I decided to take more time for writing recently bc I enjoy it and I enjoy it even more if I can share it with others who look forward to reading it. I'm trying to upload/write on a regular basis from now.  
> That includes my best friend reminding me to do so. :)
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter. Again sorry for the long wait, I know how it feels to wait for story updates myself which makes this even worse.

“So”, Reggie and his brother sat in a small diner. It was a different one than on the day Delsin went to climb up the Space Needle. The two enjoyed a peaceful moment together, along with some very late breakfast given that Delsin had been out with Yana. The food was nothing like what Betty would make for them. She tended to make way more than they could eat but it was too good to say ‘No’ to it. The food from the diner tasted good and it kind of was the first real meal they had since they had come to Seattle. Well, of course they had eaten other things since they arrived but that usually meant take away. Sitting here was nice and Reggie had enough time to inform Delsin about what he had found out. “There seems to be a lot going on near Pioneer Square, there were several reports of dead bodies and.. strange messages that were left behind. Yana was talking about that, wasn’t she? Something like ‘remains of powers’. Seems it’s a bit more than that.”

“Is there anything known about the victims?”

Shaking his head, Reggie answered. “No. Nothing out of the ordinary. According to the D.U.P. that is”, with that he leaned back on his chair and paused for a longer moment. “If I’m honest.. I feel like Yana was right about this. That this is a hunt.”

Delsin was visibly surprised. “How come?”

“Well, I’ve been to the S.P.D. to ask about those murders. I didn’t get any information about them though because the police isn’t allowed to say anything about it - order by your friends. But one officer actually talked to me. Told me they’re not even investigating those murders. Which is more than just a bit strange if those _are_ actual murders to begin with. So I’m thinking they might not be allowed to”, he took a sip from his, now, lukewarm coffee. “They’re the first at the scenes but shortly afterwards the D.U.P. arrives and from there on no one is allowed near the bodies or the scenes.”

“Not even the police?”

“Not even the police.”

“So what now? Am I just supposed to walk around the city and hope to be at the right place when something happens? I mean.. I don't have problems with fighting against the D.U.P. to get closer to any of these scenes but I might not catch the Conduit”, Delsin doubted Fetch would stay close after killing someone. So far it seemed the D.U.P. had no clue where she was which meant she was carefully not to leave traces. At least none that would take the D.U.P. right to where she was at.

“I know, but maybe you can get some clues since we don't really know anything. I want to know who these people are and why they were killed. I feel like there's quite a lot to do to 'earn' the wrath of a Bio-Terrorist and be hunted down like this.”

“Conduit.”

“Sorry”, Reggie gave his brother an apologetic look. It would take a little more time until he would use that word since he wasn't used to it. The only reason for him to learn it was the fact that Delsin himself was a Conduit now. So far neither of them had had contact to one. Living far from big cities kind of kept them safe in their own little bubble of comfort. Delsin more than Reggie since he had been away from home a lot more because of his job.

“Just try to remember it. I don't mind if you call me Bio-Terrorist though it's.. not a nice feeling. Others might not take it as well as me though.”

Others.

Like Fetch who was, given what Reggie knew so far, probably not as forgiving as Delsin was.

“I'll try my best, promise. But I'm not like you, it.. what happened to you is hard for me to accept. You're my little brother and you got into enough trouble before. This whole situation isn't helping”, Delsin simply nodded at his brothers statement. Reggie couldn't tell if Delsin could understand his worries or not. While the younger adapted to his newly acquired powers faster than at first assumed – Reggie remembered the first reaction Delsin had shown towards him after he got his powers. The first shock, the fear. All Delsin wanted was to turn back time and now it seemed like he had forgotten all that.

He liked his powers.

No, he loved them. And no matter what would happen in the next days, weeks or months, he wouldn't want things to be 'normal' again.

“Listen Delsin, I know you might not want to hear about anything I tell you.”

“Especially not when you play your big brother card and try to tell me what to do. I get that you're worried about me, I really do. But I'm fine. I'd say 'Don't worry' to you but I know it wouldn't make you feel better at all since this whole situation is a bit.. complicated”, oh how Delsin was playing this down. A bit complicated? Every D.U.P. in the city was after him, Augustine was after him. The people of Seattle were torn between being happy because of Delsin's help and being scared of him. Hell, he was surprised no one had called the D.U.P. helpline or whatever exactly it was called. The number was practically on every second poster throughout Seattle.

And right now he wasn't really playing hide and seek.

He was in a diner. There were a lot of people around, there was a small TV behind the counter warning about Bio-Terrorists every few minutes – why was no one paying attention?

Out of fear maybe?

Thinking back to Betty he sadly remembered what happened to his friends, his family, because they protected him by not saying anything to Augustine. Not like they knew anything. Up until that point no one had any idea that Delsin or anyone of the Akomish could be a Conduit and even after the events at the fish cannery no one seemed to mind. Which put them in the situation they were now.

They hadn't been afraid.

So maybe being afraid was a clever thing.

Stay away from the D.U.P. and don't anger a Conduit. Also don't hide a Conduit or help them in any kind of way.

Not calling the D.U.P. seemed a bit like helping though. So maybe the only reason for no one to call for help was to keep the D.U.P. away. To pretend everything was normal.

“What's going on on your mind?”

Turning his attention back to his brother rather than the people around, Delsin shook his head. “Just wondering why no one calls my new friends.”

“You want them to come here?”

“No. I just feel like the people are slowly accepting me. Conduits”, he shrugged. “I told you I met Yana earlier right? I met a friend of hers as well. Just like now, we we're sitting in a place with lots of people around but besides giving me strange looks they did nothing. She even told me her friend was happy to find out his way home is now faster because of one missing checkpoint. One checkpoint Reggie. He was happy about that and I feel good about that. Being able to help others and being accepted by them.”

“Can't say I'm not happy about that too”, Reggie smiled. He was still on guard though. Keeping an eye out for anything that indicated someone would run away screaming and call for help. But it didn't happen. Nothing happened during the time the brothers spent at the diner.

Aside from a sudden ringing, signaling an incoming message on Reggie's phone. Looking at his phone a smile made it to the man’s lips. “I guess there's no need to walk around waiting for something to happen anymore”, Reggie pulled out some money for the food and put it on the table before standing up and heading outside. Delsin followed him closely behind. Reggie had already called the number who had sent him the message back and began talking to someone. Delsin identified that person as a police officer after hearing a couple of words from his brother. The call wasn’t too long and when Reggie finished he turned to look at Delsin. “We got a new address; 5th corner Briar - but please promise me to stay back and be careful.”

“Of course Reg”, and with that said Delsin was already making his way up to the roof of the building.

“No problem little brother.”

Shaking his head a bit he stood on the street. Same as when Delsin went to climb up the Space Needle, Reggie stayed back. It was better this way though it was hard for him to just watch without doing anything. Not that there was something he could do besides offering his brother information. He couldn’t fight the same way Delsin did after all. Feeding him information had to be enough and that was what he had to do now as well. He definitely needed a quiet place from where he would be able to talk to Delsin via phone. Preferably a place where he had access to a police computer and their database.

**~ooo~**

The way to the address Reggie had given to Delsin wasn't too far away. Not for a Conduit who could make his way over the rooftops and through vents anyway and so he reached his destination after a short amount of time.

There were several police cars standing on the street. The officers themselves didn't seem to be interested in Delsin that much, instead they focused on getting information on what had happened to their superiors. Or what they thought had happened. Even here, a few feet away from the actual crime scene, Delsin could see trails of pink light all over the place. Be it the street, houses or cars. It was basically everywhere. It was the very same light Delsin and Reggie had seen on their way to Seattle, when they reached the checkpoint in front of the tunnel leading to the city.

Yes, this definitely was the doing of a Conduit.

And if all the information he had gotten until now where true, this was Fetch’s doing.

“Reg, can you hear me?”

“ _Loud and clear._ ”

“I've arrived at the crime scene. There are a lot of police officers but no D.U.P. as far as I can see.”

“ _That's good. It'll give you time to check out the surroundings and see what you can find. Just one thing: please don't kill any officers._ ”

“Understood. My phasers are set to ‘stun’. No need to worry”, he reassured his brother. “I guess I understand the news now. This pink light is everywhere. You know, the same back at the tunnel.”

“ _Right track huh?_ ”

“Yeah.. indeed”, he had followed the light until he stumbled upon a sight in an alleyway that was rather disconcerting to him. A body, upside down, impaled to the wall of a house with pink light acting as pegs. The same light had been used to paint skull and bones above the body. Though instead of the bones like one would know them from pirate flags, it were two syringes. Delsin’s view fell to something on the right. “‘A promise kept’.”

“ _I'm sorry?_ ”

“That's written on the wall with the.. light.”

“ _Okay.. okay.._ ”, Reggie let out a sigh. “ _Listen, send me pictures of the area: the body, the wounds, anything that could be interesting. I'm at a police station close to the diner we've been earlier and can check their database. Maybe we're able to find out something about the victims._ ”

“No problem”, and with that Delsin began to take pictures and send them to Reggie who went to check the face of the victim by letting the picture run through the former mentioned database. Much to his disappointment he didn't find anything useful at first. As he went to dig deeper he noticed some commotion behind him.

“ _Looks like something is happening here._ ”

“New body.”

“ _How?_ ”

“I can hear the sirens, D.U.P..”

On Reggie’s side all Delsin could hear was typing on the keyboard, muffled voices in the background, then Reggie talked again. “ _Yeah.. they closed off the area and are chasing the Conduit. Apparently they had visual contact. I told the police to stay away just in case._ ”

“Good. I'll take a look at it.” And with that Delsin was on his way again.

The next crime scene wasn't far away from the previous, just a few streets. Maybe five minutes by foot. The Conduit was fast, Delsin had to acknowledge that with some envy. He could see more light. And the D.U.P. who made sure no one came too close to the body.

“ _They won't hesitate to shoot. Especially not when they see you._ ”

“I know, don't worry. I'll make sure to stay safe.”

Don't worry. Easier said than done when there was nothing you could do. Not only because Reggie wasn't with his brother to help but also if he were, he wouldn't have a chance against the D.U.P. since he had no powers to defend himself with. And given by what he had learned the D.U.P. didn't bow before the police.

Delsin, unaware of Reggie and his thoughts, took his time to ponder about his chances: keep calm and try to take down as many D.U.P.’s as possible without anyone noticing or go in and wreck havoc. He could see four soldiers on the ground. One with heavy armor and a Gatling gun just like at the first command center he took down. He really hated those guys. The others wouldn't be a problem to fight off, but they noticed him sooner than he wished because he was a bit too careless. And so Delsin found himself in a middle of a wild shooting.

“There he is! Catch the Bio-Terrorist!”

“Argh! It’s called Conduit you idiot”, was all Delsin said as he punched one of the soldiers to the ground. “Learn your lesson.”

Well, that made three more. First and foremost he needed to take care of the heavy armed one as he could become a real problem. So he kept firing at him. He knew, from the last time, that the guy would hide in something like a concrete cocoon once he took a fair amount of damage. Maybe it helped the soldiers to regenerate some health. Whatever it did or did not, once hidden behind the concrete would be the perfect moment to overwhelm the soldier as that ‘cocoon’ had one big flaw: it wouldn't protect the person hiding in it completely. Meaning that Delsin could pull him out if he would make it behind the man in time.

While Delsin focused on the big guy one of the other soldiers had called for backup.

Having no other choice but to take cover Delsin began to take out some of the new arrived soldiers without putting himself in the line of fire. It was far too dangerous at this point and Delsin wasn't crazy enough to risk his life. Staying behind cover was his best option. One by one Delsin managed to take down the D.U.P.’s until, though he had hoped to take care of the guy sooner, only the heavy armed soldier was standing. The good thing was that Delsin could give him his full attention. He fired everything he had at the man until, after what felt like an eternity, what Delsin had hoped to happen did happen:

the soldier took cover inside his little concrete cocoon and Delsin could pull him out of it. With a little help of his smoke powers he pinned him to the ground so he couldn’t move any longer.

After that was finally done Delsin began to look around. Just like at the last location a body was impaled with that strange light. This time on a fountain in a small side alley. However the Conduit seemed to have been interrupted because the wall only held the words ‘A Promi-’. There had been no time for the rest. The D.U.P. had been fast and instead of picking a fight the Conduit apparently had decided to bail.

“You know about people who like to name their art or their style? This.. would definitely be ‘nouveau.. sick’”, he began walking towards the body, his eyes taking in everything he could as he took his phone in his hands. “Let me guess: you need pictures of the face and the wounds.”

“ _If it’s not too much to ask for._ ”

Armed with his phone Delsin went to take several pictures. First the face of the man which he send to Reggie right away. Looking at the dead man, how he hung there on display, made Delsin feel uneasy. He had never seen anything like that before. In a movie maybe, but not in reality. It looked like an execution. And a warning. A warning Delsin couldn’t place because what did a man impaled by light mean?

“Wounds are on the way in a moment too.”

“ _No need_ ”, came Reggie’s answer. “ _I got a match on the face. The guy’s a drug dealer, his rap sheet is a mile long. Take a look around to check if his stash is somewhere around. Might help us with the Conduit and it could give us a clue why they picked this guy._ ”

Drug dealer?

A Conduit was killing a drug dealer?

Without thinking about it any further Delsin decided to take on his brother's advice to look around for more clues. Though he didn’t believe to find anything around here. But, well, who knew. Maybe there was something around to find. Because his brother was a cop he had like an extra sense for crimes and clues. Delsin actually believed that he would find something based on his brother's intuition. That was exactly what happened. Delsin spotted a box and a gym bag which didn’t seem to fit in the location. Kneeling down to inspect both items closer his fingers grabbed the zipper of the bag right as a ray of light came towards Delsin. Or rather the bag, which was pulverized on the spot.

“Holy…!”

Delsin jumped back, shocked about the ‘assault’, and hid behind the exterior wall of a house to take cover as a second attack followed. His brown eyes spotted a silhouette standing on a billboard not that far away. Just like he was able to see the person he was more than sure the person could see him as well, hence the attacks.

“ _‘Holy’ what? Delsin what is going on?_ ”, Reggie was worried. Delsin hadn’t said anything more after that and Reggie heard something hitting something else resulting in a small explosion. Or something similar to that.

“Found the Conduit. I’m going after them.”

“ _Be careful._ ”

Delsin rolled his eyes. "That’s a really great advice. Don’t you think I know that? I’m the one getting shot right now after all.”

He took a deep breath. Contrary to the other Conduit he didn’t have any ranged attacks which could reach this far. He had to get closer and given the fact the person was super good with their aim.. that wasn’t going to be an easy task. Delsin began to run. Using an air vent to get to the rooftop of a nearby building before jumping to the next rooftop, getting closer and closer to the Conduit who barely missed Delsin with those laser beams. Part of that was clearly thanks to the fact Delsin reacted fast enough.

“Woah! Would you stop that please?!”, was all Delsin shouted when he landed on the roof of the building which connected to the one with the billboard. The unknown Conduit began running immediately, trying to get away before Delsin could reach them. “Just wait a second! I’m one of you.. I mean, one of us.” That didn’t seem to interest the Conduit at all. They jumped from roof to roof until landing on the street and running off from there until they were gone from Delsin’s sight. He had tried to follow but to no avail. He slowed down staring after the light traces the Conduit had left. “Nice meeting you”, he muttered under his breath while watching the light disappear slowly but steady.

There he was, in the middle of the street without ever having the chance to catch up with the Conduit in order to talk or see them.

“ _Did you get them?_ ”

“No, they got away”, he couldn’t deny that he was kind of unhappy about that. “And fast on top of that, like Conduit fast. I don’t know what that was, but I want it!”, oh man, if only Delsin could run around that fast.

“ _Don’t be too greedy._ ”

The younger one made a face. Greedy.. he just had control over smoke. Reggie made it sound like he already had twenty extra powers or something. That’s when he remembered something. “Hey, you know, there was this billboard to Conduit stood on. It was flickering with every shot.”

“ _The energy source maybe? You should go back and look around._ ”

“What am I? Your errand boy?”

“ _Hey, I can’t just run and fly or whatever over rooftops and by the way: you are the one who wants new powers. That is your chance - even if I don’t feel comfortable with that._ ”

“No problem Reg”, Delsin was already on his way back to the sign. “It’s just.. man.. you should’ve seen how fast the Conduit was. I mean Fetch. 99% sure it is her. Everything seems to fit with the messages at the crime scenes and what Yana said.”

“ _It looks like Fetch seems to be fond about not being caught by anyone._ ”

Delsin smiled to himself. “Well, I’m definitely catching her.”

~ooo~

When that guy suddenly got close to her all Fetch thought about was to run.

No matter who he was, he had snooped around the bodies, saw the drugs. This was her concern. It was bad enough the D.U.P. meddled with it, with her, and that they made the whole city come after her. No one of them saw what she was doing. She was branded as a monster which she wasn’t. Those people, the ones she had killed, those were the monsters the people in Seattle had to be saved from.

She would proof it eventually.

There was just one problem or rather one more problem on top of those she already had:

the guy who had followed her.

She had seen him doing those smoke sprints. That was something she had only known from Hank. She had never seen anyone else running around with smoke powers and Hank had been caught by Augustine again. So when there was someone else with the same powers that couldn’t mean anything good. She needed to be extra careful from now on to not run into him again.

The last thing she needed was going back to Curdun Cay - not before she finished her mission.


	9. Calm before the Storm

“This laser stuff is just super cool Reg”, Delsin was on his way back to the neon sign from which the other Conduit had been shooting at him a little bit earlier. Reggie was right that it was a good idea to check the place out and see if he could find something. A clue to find out if this had been Fetch or the third Conduit. They hadn’t heard anything about them so far. Maybe they were hiding far away from everyone. For now though Delsin’s attention was with this place and the new powers he could grab. “Once I got that, with the smoke powers I already have.. Augustine will be surprised for sure.”

“ _Keep it cool will you? We still need to find the Conduit again and we still don’t know if it’s gonna work anyway._ ”

“I know, I know”, he was hoping to be able to test it out soon. To see if he could get more powers or not. Though ‘soon’ might be relative since he didn’t know where to look. The billboard was a good start at least because the second he arrived there he could see the Conduit he had chased was living here. Which meant they would come back eventually.

Only that Delsin wasn’t keen on waiting for that to happen.

He wanted to find the Conduit as soon as possible. Not only because of his curiosity about what the powers could do and if he could actually get them by nothing more than shaking the Conduits hand. But also, and that was even more important to him, because it meant he was getting closer to Augustine. To facing her, being able to stand a chance against her. Getting her powers and thus being able to save his friends.

His eyes took in his surroundings. This place.. it was not what he had expected. As a normal person walking down the street you wouldn't expect anyone to live up here. This was an almost perfect hideout. Minus the fact that it wasn't save from rainfall and probably rather cold during the nights. “Okay.. well, this is definitely Fetch unless the second escaped Conduit is female as well and has a preference for messages no one understands.”

“ _Definitely female?_ ”

“Reg, if you could see this you would understand. This is the girliest sniper nest of all time”, he tried not to laugh when he saw the shoes and the makeup standing in one corner of this.. ‘home’. Why did women need all that stuff? Sure, he appreciated it when women dressed up and all that but sometimes he didn’t get it. Mostly because of the fact that some things women did seemed like torture. Like walking in high heels all day. That couldn't be fun. There wasn’t time to think about it though. Delsin needed to find Fetch without losing too much time.

A part of him felt like that had happen already. He had missed several days after Augustine had been in Salmon Bay and now he had to chase down Fetch and the other Conduit.

“ _What do you mean by ‘girliest’? Don’t tell me everything is pink?_ ”

“Bingo, well, at least whatever in here can be pink is”, he looked around. “It’s all girl stuff you know.. and there’s a name written or I should rather say burned on the wall with a girly handwriting.”

Reggie interrupted his brother. “ _Girly handwriting?_ ” From what Delsin was telling him over the phone this was supposedly every little girl's dream. With pink walls, fluffy unicorns and glitter. Besides, only because all the things that were there were pink and the handwriting was pretty, didn’t mean it was necessarily a woman. Men could enjoy the color too. And men could have feminine handwriting as well.

“It’s a pretty handwriting.. not like yours”, he could hear Reggie sighing on the other side of the phone. “I’m gonna send you some pictures so you see what I mean”, he informed his brother and without waiting for an answer he began to take pictures. Starting with the name on the wall because that was the strangest thing to Delsin. With all the ‘decoration’ to make this place a little nicer, writing a name on the wall seemed out of place. Whoever this was had to be important to Fetch. 

“ _Brent.. mhm, whoever that's supposed to be. I can’t really get far with nothing more but a name_ ”, and there was the next picture. Were that shoes? Why did Delsin take pictures of shoes? Better not to ask questions about that, but he had to acknowledge that boots like those were usually worn by women. And another picture - how many did his brother intend to send him? From ‘furniture’ on top of that. “ _Seriously? We have a serial killer who’s reading ‘Jane Eyre’?_ ”

“Each their own”, he looked around some more. What else could he take a picture of? The flowers in the traffic cones? No, too boring. That’s when something caught his interest and Delsin couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear. Oh yes, that would be good.

When the picture appeared on his phone Reggie didn’t know what to say for a second. Did Delsin seriously sent him a picture of underwear? “ _Okay, those definitely.. very likely belong to a woman._ ”

“Pff, you’re an expert for that huh?” Oh how Delsin loved to make his brother uncomfortable. Even though he was older he seemed to be three steps behind Delsin when it came to women. The fact that a few items of nice underwear could get him so nervous was, in a way, hilarious. Delsin could remember a few occasions where Reggie was out with a woman he had met through work or Betty had introduced to him - she seemed pretty eager to find him woman at one point. Probably because she thought of both, Delsin and Reggie, as her family and couldn’t wait for a wedding and babies. Reggie always seemed to be more at ease once he was home again. Apparently not being interested in dating. Maybe that was partly Delsin’s fault. Having to look out for your little brother and work at the same time didn’t leave much time for a private life. Even now Reggie was more keen on keeping Delsin out of trouble than anything else. Making a mental note to do something about that once they were back home, Delsin concentrated on the task ahead.

“ _Is there.. anything else?_ ”

“Let’s see”, he walked to the other end of the sign and looked around: buildings, streets, message made from light, tree - wait. A message made from light? “Yes, there is something interesting”, he raised his phone and tried to connect the picture. Just like up here on the neon sign, parts of a puzzle were drawn on the rooftop of the next building and on the street a little further away. Seeing only one piece of it wouldn’t make sense to anyone. From an artistic point of view this was a masterpiece.

“ _Interesting is the right word for that. Maybe I can get a match on the face, though this would be more luck than anything else. It’s a pretty far fetched thought_ ”, Reggie, who had gotten a picture of the puzzle or the face Delsin had found just now, began to search for some information using the picture.

“Do you know what I just remembered?”

“ _What is it?_ ”

“Think about it for a second: smoke and lasers.. I could do light shows in our living room.”

“ _Guess that’s a reasonable use for superpowers_ ”, the older one laughed before concentrating on the search for someone matching the picture and the name again.

“You need to have fun once in awhile. Of course, I’m gonna test that on Augustine first. First the smoke and then the laser”, he made a few noises which could be associated with firing a gun. He could perfectly imagine how it would look. The shocked and surprised look when he would stand in front of Augustine while setting her world on fire. Oh he couldn’t wait for that. She would be more than surprised. Especially because he would be there in the first place since she hadn’t believed him when he told her that he was a Conduit. By now Delsin was pretty sure she would know. Alone because of his sign on the Space Needle. The surprise might be a little smaller than he hoped in the first place.

“ _Got a match for the picture_ ”, Reggie pulled his brother out of his thoughts. “ _His name is ‘Brent Walker’, he was arrested for the possession of drugs six years ago. But listen to this: two months later he was found in an alley. Dead. Based on the file the cause of death was a ‘single punctuation wound of unknown origin_ ’”, he read. “ _I’m gonna send you the file along with the place where his body was found._ ” He couldn’t believe this actually worked.

Delsin began to wonder about that. Had this guy, Brent Walker, been killed because he had drugs or was it for another reason? What was clear was that Brent meant something to Fetch. She went and killed drug dealers, he had been arrested because he had some. It felt like she was blaming them for his death and now went to get revenge.

“So Fetch doesn’t like drug dealers.”

“ _Looks like it._ ”

“Yana was right, wasn’t she?”, Delsin thought out loud as he made his way to the place Brent had been found. “You said it earlier as well, that this is hunt or something. Those guys were drug dealers. The police isn’t allowed to look into this and the D.U.P. makes it look like she’s killing off random people. That everyone in this city could be a target.”

“ _I have to admit that I might’ve been on the wrong track earlier. From what I have heard until now this really seems like the D.U.P. wants to scare the people though they’re supposed to do the opposite of that_ ”, it made him thoughtful. It didn’t change anything about the fact that people were being murdered here, people who - under different circumstances - would’ve been sitting in prison for what they were doing. Because that was the right thing. Because that was what his consciousness as a cop told him and he couldn’t just accept the fact that someone was murdering people who should be in jail.

If it was indeed Fetch who did this, Reggie had the feeling he would get into trouble with Delsin later on.

There was something, he couldn't tell what, but he knew that the moment Delsin would meet Fetch things would escalate. Delsin had a different view on things. Based on the past conversations he didn't seem to be bothered a lot by the fact Fetch was killing people.

It was a bit like back home. Delsin would cause trouble and Reggie would scold him. Delsin would never see his brothers point during the talks they had afterwards. A part of Reggie could understand it. Delsin was rebellious, he wanted to test out his boundaries. He didn't care that his brother was a cop and had to do something about it. He couldn't just let Delsin do as he pleased.

It wouldn't be any different in this case. Delsin would defend his and Fetch's actions, while Reggie would try to make them understand his point of view. He was already dreading that moment.

**~ooo~**

The place of Brent’s murder was close to a theater. To Delsin’s dismay there were quite a few drug dealers lurking around the place and Reggie reminded him - in his cop way - that it was everyone’s responsibility to do something when they watched a crime. Of course without getting in danger themselves. Being a Conduit and facing a few armed guys? Nope, no danger on Delsin’s end here. Plus he enjoyed fighting with his powers and trying out new things.

Reggie thanked his brother. Especially since he took the dealers out by pinning them to the ground with some smoke. The police would take care of the rest. Reggie had already informed someone about it. 

Now Delsin had enough time to look around. There was a gate that kept people from entering what appeared to be a small hallway leading somewhere. Maybe a storage of some kind. Though it felt weird to have such an ‘open’ storage down here. This might very well be a back entrance to the building itself but if that was indeed the case.. wasn’t it in use? It seemed strange. Shaking his thoughts away Delsin used his abilities to move through the bars and inspect what was behind them.

From the first impression the room he was about to enter should have been dark. To his surprise there was a small shimmer of light illuminating what was ahead. Entering what looked like to be a vault, based on the architecture inside, he noticed that the name ‘Brent’ was written all over the place. It was the same handwriting as on the billboard earlier. Though this time the whole place was covered. Looking around closely he noticed that the name formed into a spiral, eventually leading to a small altar of some kind.

There were pictures and candles everywhere. This was a private little memorial place. There was no way someone else would come in here so the person who set this up, was comfortable with leaving it here.

Most of the candles were lit. If Reggie would see it he would go into a long rant about how to not leave candles burning when you’re not there. Delsin didn’t bother too much though he could relate to that. The burning candles were a sign that the Conduit came here a lot. Maybe they had been here before the laser attack on him. He doubted they would come back any time soon. It seemed they were more eager to run away from him and maybe, there was a chance for that, they had seen him check out the neon sign and coming here as well.

As he went to get a closer look at the pictures he noticed that there were two people on some of them:

a woman with pink hair and a man with blue hair.

Based on what he had seen so far the woman was the one to attack him. And the man had to be Brent. They seemed close. Delsin could see that just from looking at the pictures. Not as in being a couple but being a family. Siblings for sure. It made Delsin wonder what had happen to Brent and thus to Fetch.

If she had been in Curdun Cay before the truck crashed in Salmon Bay, there was no way for her to do all this. Place candles and pictures. Either way she did it after she escaped or all of this had been here before without anyone ever noticing it. He doubted it. He had been out for a while after Augustine attacked him. This was definitely new.

“I have to say, speedy-gone-crazy is one hell of a tagger. You should see this, it’s amazing.”

“ _It’s also amazing that you forget she’s a murderer._ ”

“Let’s forget that for a bit, will you?”, Delsin decided to ignore his brother and began to take pictures of the place. Starting with the altar. He had to admit it was touching to see this. This was something you’d do for a loved one. They probably had been very close before he died. He couldn’t imagine. No, actually he could. His thoughts drifted to his parents. It had been a long time since they had passed but there were moments where a wave of emotions rushed towards him, making him go back to that dreadful day.

Reggie pulled Delsin from his thoughts without knowing what was going on. “ _The guy on the picture is definitely Brent Walker. No mistake here._ ”

“Would’ve never guessed that with his name all over the place.”

“ _Is that sarcasm I hear?_ ”

“Maybe”, Delsin took a few more pictures. That did include the name spiral. “See. Great tagger and no mistake about this being Brent. Thanks for your confirmation though”, he was sure his smile was audible in his voice. Reggie didn’t say anything and so Delsin continued to explore only to find something that was unsettling him. Right to the left from where he had entered he now spotted a chair and a table. What through him off guard was a board leaning against the wall behind the table.

There was a picture on it. Drawn with this strange neon power. It was Brent, sitting on a chair as if he was sitting at the same table with Fetch. Probably. Delsin could clearly imagine a real person sitting on the free chair. Plus, there was a food bag on the table indicating that someone would actually use this place to eat. Which meant that neon-Brent was a silent company during those meals. What he also spotted was a note on the wall.

RIP Brent, along with a tally counting 23.

As he took a picture for his brother he wondered what the number meant exactly.

“ _What on earth.. this is crazy_ ”, Reggie couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“You tell me. I’m standing right in front of neon-Brent and it looks like our Conduit is ordering take-out, comes here and talks about what they experienced during the day while having food.” It sounded even crazier when he said it out loud. This place however was frequented a lot. The empty food bag, the lit candles. He had come to that realization earlier but now it was even more prominent. There was also something else that made him think so:

hidden behind a few curtains was a makeshift bed made from some blankets and a sleeping bag.

Comparing this to the other place, which had more ‘furniture’ to make it look like a nice place to stay, this was definitely a home.

“ _Olaf’s has a location on the Alaskan Way. They supposedly have one of the biggest neon signs of the city._ ”

Looking back to the table Delsin noticed the name on the take-away bag. He hadn’t paid attention to that earlier and was glad his brother did so because that meant he had a new place to go. “Guess that’s my next destination to check out.”

**~ooo~**

“Hey, what about breakfast”, Sarah was standing near the cash register with a rather bored look on her face. The store had been open for 3 hours and the customers Yana had attended to, had just left. “You got some time for that right?”

“Mhm, yes”, Yana nodded. “I wanted to work through some of the letters we got during the last weeks. Breakfast would work perfect with that.”

“Great”, Sarah clapped her hands together. “If that’s the case I’m gonna go to the bakery and get us something.” That said, Sarah walked back towards the staff room to grab her wallet before she waved Yana goodbye and left the store.

Yana’s blue eyes followed her colleague until she wasn’t able to see her anymore, thus turning her attention towards the letters. They had been lying on the desk for a while now. Somehow no one here liked to do the paperwork but given that there was not much to do, Yana found it a good opportunity to take care of the mail. She opened those which were still closed, sorting bills and junk mails into different stacks. There was nothing important here. The junk mails went straight to the trash and the bills were sorted and put to the side for her boss to sign.

There were a few papers she could file right away without anyone signing them. Step by step the desk began to look like a desk again. No unnecessary papers or anything that clustered the place. It felt good.

As she put a binder back into one of the shelves that was placed in the small hallway between the staff room and the shop itself, she heard the doorbell at the entrance. Even though there was basically just a door frame between her and the shop she couldn’t actually see the showroom. Since it couldn’t be Sarah, she had been gone for about 15 minutes and the way to the bakery was longer than that, Yana was certain it was a customer.

“I’ll be there in a second!”

She tried to quickly put everything away before walking back into the main room of the shop. Her eyes roaming from one point to the next without finding anyone around. Had she imagined the doorbell? Or maybe someone opened the door but then decided to not step inside because they realized they were at the wrong place. Yana was ready to turn around and head back to the office when she spotted someone standing in front of a rack that contained romper suits.

For a short moment Yana felt as if her heart stopped.

This couldn’t be real.

“Hello Yana.”

She made two steps back.

"... Augustine.. ?!"

 


	10. Old enemies, new friends (?)

This wasn’t happening.

No, this couldn’t be happening.

Fear and incomprehension was written all over her face. Never in her life had she expected to see Augustine here. In the city, yes, Yana had to live with that but here, at her workplace?

“You don’t seem happy”, noted Augustine with no sign of any feeling in those words. Her gaze moved around the store. It all seemed a bit surreal to her. Being in this place, near her own daughter but still feeling a certain distance between them. She grabbed one of the romper suits with her hand. “I never bought you anything like that.”

Yana narrowed her eyes at that comment. Why was Augustine sounding like.. an actual human while saying that? As if she was truly sorry for never having done that or taking the chance to do it. Because she did have that chance. If she had turned away from her military career and focused on her family. Things could’ve been so different just by making that one choice.

“Cat got your tongue?”

“What do you want?”, Yana tried to sound as if she wasn’t scared or not more than she already was. “How do you know that I’m here.. that I work at this place?”

The corners of her mouth moved up a bit as if Augustine was trying to suppress a triumphant smile. “Mhm, let’s say a mutual acquaintance brought me here”, she moved a few steps closer to Yana but still kept a certain distance. It was a strange feeling to stand in front of your own daughter - especially under these circumstances. She was aware that Yana tried to back up. She didn’t want to get any closer than necessary. “I feel like you’re forgetting that I have my eyes and ears everywhere.”

“You’re surveilling me?”

“No, I’m surveilling the city and caught you on tape doing so - along with a certain Bio-Terrorist from Salmon Bay.”

So that was the crux of the matter here. Yana didn’t even bother to correct Augustine. It wouldn’t help anyway. Still, Yana was angry at herself: she was always so careful not to get into the focus. She didn’t care about the cameras if she was honest, there was nothing she could do about them. That didn’t meant that she stood in front of them and waved at whoever was watching. She was 100% sure that there hadn’t been any cameras around during the first meeting, mostly because she had only mentioned Delsin but not his brother. That meant Augustine had seen the second meeting between Delsin and her.

She should’ve known given that Augustine was keen on capturing the Conduits. Delsin had come into full focus after he climbed on top of the Space Needle for sure. And he came to Yana right afterwards. A part of her wanted to blame him, another part wanted to blame herself because why did she even allow both, Delsin and Reggie, to come to her place? If she hadn’t done that.. Delsin might have not come to see her. Augustine might have not found her and wouldn’t be here now. It only brought more problems. What if Sarah came back while Augustine was still here? She would get more people in trouble.

Yana felt her hands grew cold and sweaty. In that moment she wasn’t scared because people would find out about her relationship to Brooke Augustine, worst person on the planet. To Yana at least. She was more scared about the fact that her friends might get hurt. She could never forgive herself if that would happen.

“You two seem to be close. Getting along great as far as I could tell.”

No doubt anymore that this was about the second and most recent meeting. She had put on Delsin’s hoodie and then followed him. She knew how that must look to others. “Even if that’s the case, why do you care”, Yana crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“I care because the safety of the city is at stake.”

“Right, don’t make me laugh. The safety of the city? As if you actually care about that. Have you ever looked around? The city is a goddamn prison and the D.U.P. is harassing the people”, Yana had no idea where the sudden rage came from but it was there. Everything that had happened.. everything that was happening..

“We’re protecting the people.”

Yana couldn’t hold back anymore. Did Augustine really believe that was the case? That she was protecting the people by shutting them off from the rest of the world? Yana had seen people trying to leave the city. Be it by foot, car or boat. There was no use in trying. The bridges had been destroyed and if one still tried.. she had seen the D.U.P. arresting people for that. Augustine had no remorse for those suffering because of her actions. Protecting people? Maybe in her dreams.

The rage and the disappointment grew stronger. Forgotten was the fear from just moments before.

“You don’t give a fuck about those people so don’t say you’re protecting them!!”

Several concrete shards shot out of the ground just a few feet in front of Yana who now tried to get as far away from Augustine as possible. She knew that it was wrong to anger the woman but there was so much frustration within her that finally came to the surface. “What now? Are you going to kill me? That would just confirm the picture I have of you.”

“Do you really think I would do that? Kill my own daughter?”

“Don’t come at me with that trick. You’ve never cared about me or Dad”, if the situation hadn’t been this serious Yana would’ve started laughing. Five years ago she was told that her existence was a disappointment. Now that was replaced with the ‘I’m your mother’ trick. “The only thing you cared about was your job, your career. How we felt - how I felt - was never important to you. Do you know how I felt as a kid? When I saw my friends being picked up from school by their mums? How much their eyes sparkled with joy? I only had Dad. And I had hope, hope that you weren’t as terrible as I was told but you know what? That had been destroyed faster than I could’ve imagined.”

Yana tried to suppress the shaking in her body.

There was no way to back down now. She couldn’t. She knew Augustine would try to manipulate her. Whatever her end game was, Yana didn’t want to be a part of it.

“I’m aware I must have hurt you”, Augustine began to explain. Her eyes were still fixed on Yana who had tried to get even more space between the two of them. She had moved closer to the cash register, farther away from the concrete shards sticking out of the ground. “It was better that way, believe me. I’m not the monster you think I am. I can see it in your eyes. Dealing with that Bio-Terrorist, dealing with any of them, it won’t end well for you. Stop meeting him before he’ll hurt you.”

“Hurt me? Like you did?”, Yana’s voice was a mere whisper.

As Augustine raised her hand Yana was expecting the worst. To her surprise she watched as the concrete in the ground disappeared. Leaving no trace of it ever being there in the first place. “It was never my intention to hurt you. You might not realize it now, but I’m trying to keep you safe.” Augustine looked at her daughter. The women's eyes met for a second. Enough for Augustine to see the fear in Yana’s blue eyes. She didn’t want her to fear her but maybe this was the only way. “However, if you don’t stop seeing the Bio-Terrorist and you can be assured that I will find out, I might take other actions to make sure you listen. You seem to be rather close to a man named Joe. I’m also aware that your best friend is currently attending her brothers wedding. I don’t need to ‘hurt’ you, it would be enough if I hurt others.”

There was a part of Yana that wanted to throw something at Augustine.

This was what Yana feared: having the people close to her being hurt. Augustine knew how to get what she wanted. This situation, Yana wouldn’t dare to oppose her. Not for anything in the world.

Footsteps echoed through the room. When Yana focused on Augustine again she noticed that the woman had made her way back to the entrance. She didn’t expect her to answer or say anything about the threat. For her everything what needed to be said, had been said. Yana watched Augustine reaching for the door. Before she opened it though, she turned back to look at Yana. “I’ve always thought of you.. on every birthday.. every holiday”, her voice sounded the same like when she looked at the romper suits. Even her look, as if she was longing to turn back time right here. “You’re my daughter, how can I not think about you? I just want the best for you.”

With that, Augustine left. Just as silent as she had come to the store. Without anyone noticing.

Yana stared at the closed door.

Minutes passed.

Minutes that seemed like hours.

Her knees felt week. Whatever had kept her from simply falling to the ground before, it wasn’t keeping her up anymore. She slumped down to the ground and began crying. She didn’t know why. Maybe because of everything Augustine had said to her. Maybe because all of this got to her more than she’d like to admit it.

When the doorbell rang again Yana feared Augustine had come back to feast on the sight of what she had done to her own flesh and blood. It was Sarah instead. Without second thought she dropped everything to the ground and rushed over to Yana hoping to help her calm down. Yana just clung onto Sarah as she cried.

Any questions about what had happened were left unanswered.

**~ooo~**

After arriving at Olaf’s the first thing Delsin noticed, besides the large neon sign his brother had talked about, was a large group of people demonstrating. It wasn’t the first demonstration he had seen since he arrived in Seattle. This one was bigger than the others he had seen though. Even before he got closer he could hear and see what it was about:

drugs.

Curiosity got the better of him. Despite not wanting to check it out he got closer to the group of people. The signs they held read about how drugs were evil and the cause for people to become Conduits - though they of course said Bio-Terrorists. They even had an ‘example’ for their theory.

Fetch Walker.

Some of the signs had a woman's face on them. Delsin recognized her as the same woman on the pictures with Brent he had found earlier.

“Mister”, a man approached Delsin. “Will you sign our petition to get drugs of the street? Unless we don’t stop this poison, more of our youth will turn out like Fetch Walker.” The man had a clipboard in his hands. His brown eyes sparkled with determination. He really believed what he was saying.

Giving the paper on the clipboard a short look Delsin could see several names on it. There seemed to be enough people to believe that drugs were indeed the cause for people to become Conduits. He thought of Betty. She had told him that it didn’t matter if he was a Conduit or not to her. He had been born that way. Every Conduit was born a Conduit right? It just needed a trigger to activate the powers they had. Maybe Fetch’s trigger had been the drugs. He didn’t know that, but maybe he would find out soon. Raising an eyebrow in confusion Delsin put up a hand. “Sorry man”, with that he walked away. In the back he could hear the man go on about his beliefs and asking another person to sign.

When Delsin had put a little distance between him and the demonstration he spoke to Reggie. “You heard that right?”

“ _I did._ ”

“Can you run that name through the database too?”

“ _Will do._ ”

Delsin wondered if it would bring something up. The people here definitely knew who Fetch was. Probably through the news. Yana knew her name as well after all. Those people here, he wasn’t sure if they got all those information from the news. They even knew her last name which was new to him. Walker. It was the same as Brent. The thought Delsin had when he was in her hideout came back. That they were siblings and something terrible had happened to Brent that caused Fetch to go around and kill drug dealers. From what those people a few feet behind him were shouting, she herself was taking drugs or had done so. He doubted Augustine would give the Conduits in Curdun Cay any.

“ _The name doesn’t bring up anything. I went back to Brent though. His file mentions a sister named Abigail, no more info. Maybe the job of the D.U.P. too._ ”

“Fetch might be Abigail. Took a new name. Something that goes with her powers”, he shrugged.

“ _Like people calling you ‘Bannerman’?_ ”

“Can we forget that name please?”, Delsin wasn’t happy his brother brought that one up. It wasn’t a good name. Not to Delsin anyway. He wanted to erase it from everyone’s mind if it was possible.

“ _If you insist_ ”, Reggie chuckled a little. “ _I’m impressed by your impulse control by the way. I could hear what those people were shouting. Might be a wise idea to stay away and out of sight. Maybe up by the neon sign is a good idea? She might come back to recharge._ ”

“Good idea. Plus: less people who want to kick the crap out of me”, he didn't need that now. Making his way to the side of the building and away from the prying eyes of the demonstrators, he found a vent leading to the roof. Looking around once more to make sure no one was watching him he used his smoke sprint to make his way through the vent.

When he arrived on the rooftop he took in his surroundings. There weren’t a lot of things up here he could use to hide. Though there was a small corner with a chair and a sleeping bag. Delsin came to the conclusion that Fetch had a lot of places around the city where she could crash for the night. Hopefully tonight she would come back here. For now all he could do was to wait. He spotted several cardboard boxes. Delsin would be able to use those as a cover. Not that he looked forward to it, but it was for a good cause.

More powers to kick the crap out of Augustine.

And maybe he could make a new friend along the way too.

**~ooo~**

It was already dark when Fetch came back to her usual spot at Olaf’s.

Today had been.. weird. That was a nice way of putting it. First the D.U.P. had interfered with her business so that she had to bail and then that other Conduit began to sniff around too. She was hoping that she had lost him. It was several hours later now so the chances he had lost her were good. Nevertheless she had to stay away from some places just to make sure.

When the smell of food hit her Fetch instantly regretted not taking any money from the dealers. Looking up at the starry sky she took a deep breath. It smelled delicious and her empty stomach gave a low noise in response. Yes, she needed food but that was a little bit problematic without money. Though, and she knew it was an option, if she would just enter the store and demand something the people would give her without questioning.

“Mhm.. money why do you hate me. You should be my friend”, she began to walk around the roof contemplating about just going down to street level and cause a little chaos in order to get free food.

That was when she heard a rustling noise to her right.

Fetch turned to look in the direction the noise had come from. When she spotted Delsin she made a step back. Even more so when he tried to grab her. How did he get here? How did he know she would be here? Pulling her arm away before Delsin managed to grab her, she made another step backwards and looked at Delsin with a scared expression on her face. “No!”

“It’s okay”, Delsin noted before attempting to grab her hand once again. This time he succeeded. Fetch had nowhere to go when his hand moved in and she watched in horror when a bubble of light formed around their now intertwined hands. She watched as small pieces of light seemed to be pulled from her and flew to Delsin. He was taking her powers! Fetch tried to break free with all her might but to no avail. Whatever was happening, it drained her energy. “It’s okay, I promise.”

It wasn’t.

Everything happened so fast.

Fetch could see pictures flashing in her mind. Pictures from the day she first discovered her powers. Her parents, her brother. How both of them had run away and ended up in a spiral of drugs and violence until the day she was taken to Curdun Cay. The day she killed her brother.

She blacked out instantly at that. Her body, feeling heavy, dropped to the ground just like Delsin did. As her body hit the ground the pain brought her back to consciousness and the panic of not knowing what was actually happening right now did the rest. Looking at Delsin she could see him trying to get up. His body was covered in light or rather, light was moving around him. Fetch began to move away from the other Conduit.

“Stay away from me!” She was furious.

“I don’t want to hurt you”, came Delsin’s response. He managed to stand up just like her but as he made a step into her direction.. it wasn’t a normal step. It was almost a sprint. Leaving a trail of light.

Fetch was now more than just a little confused. That was her power, no mistake here. He was using her powers! That’s why he was running around using Hank’s. He had stolen them, and now he had stolen hers as well. Deciding that she needed to get away from him before he managed to touch her again - who knew what would happen - she began to run.

Delsin right behind her.

Closer than she liked.

 


End file.
